Naruto: Thousand Soul Phrases
by Sky Zephyrus
Summary: The power of Persona awakened in the world of ninjas. Along with that, the wielder of Wild Card also has been chosen. What kind of destiny that awaits Naruto at the end of his Journey? Naruto/Persona X-Over NaruSaku, Possible NaruHarem, strong Naruto
1. The Fool's Revelation

Naruto: Thousand Soul Phrases  
I do not own anything related to Naruto or Persona series

Summary: The power of Persona awakened in the world of ninjas. Along with that, the wielder of Wild Card also has been chosen. What kind of destiny that awaits Naruto at the end of his 'Journey'? Naruto/Persona X-Over NaruSaku, possible NaruHarem, strong Naruto

Chapter 1: The Fool's Revelation

Even if humans have lived on this planet for a long time, there were so many secrets that they couldn't fathom. Like how was the civilization before the Great Catastrophe, how the Rikudou Sennin discovered chakra, or even something more trivial like what kind of life beyond the vastness of ocean that surrounds the Elemental Country. But one of the secret that really affected the World of Ninjas was the power of Persona.

Many mysteries surrounded this supernatural phenomenon, such as its origins, why it took so many different forms from people to people, how it awakened and why only a few people can use it. There was one theory that most people, if not all, agreed on regarding Persona. Persona was born from one's psyche and acted as a mask that protected him or her when he or she faced many hardships of life, thus giving Persona a distinguishable identity from one another. Once he or she have faced and accepted his or her true self, he or she shall give birth to their Persona. There is another way to awaken one's Persona, but it was very dangerous. When one person was under a heavy mental stress, he or she will awaken their Persona. This method was dangerous because it can kill the newly awakened Persona User because of the Persona is most likely went berserk after the awakening or because the heavy mental stress.

The first Persona awakening ever recorded in the history of the Elemental Country was during the Third Great Ninja War. Ever since that, Persona Users began to appear in almost every country of the Elemental Country, though the number was considered small, only 10 to 15% from the total number of ninja corps the country had. Even until now, years after the Third Great Ninja War, the number wasn't rising at all—declining in fact. Many researches were conducted to increase the number of Persona Users, but the result was nil, zip, and nada.

Konohagakure no Sato, the largest and the strongest hidden village to the date, said to have the most Persona Users among the other villages. However, the number was quickly cut short when Kyuubi no Youko attacked the village as many Persona Users were slain in effort to hold off the great Bijuu before Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato, sealed the beast away in his own newborn son. However, no one knew that the moment when Kyuubi was sealed inside the baby Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto, a Journey was set and a Wild Card has been chosen. Thus, the story begun…

X-0-X-0-X-0-X-0-X

Today was just another day in Konoha where the villagers were doing their own activities such as running errands, selling their stuffs on the market district, or just chatting with their friends about the life. In another part of the village, some ninjas could be seen leaving the village for a mission. In the main street of the village a boy was walking with nay care of the world, ignoring the heated looks or glares or whispered curses from the villagers as he passed by. He had spiky blond hair and sapphire blue eyes with three thin lines on his cheeks, akin to whisker. He was wearing bright orange jumpsuit with a green framed goggle resting on his forehead. His name was Uzumaki Naruto, the most notorious prankster in Konoha, the village's pariah, and the Jinchuuriki or the living prison of the Kyuubi no Youko that attacked the village fourteen years ago. He was also a student of Konoha Ninja Academy with the predicate as the dobe (dead last). Little they knew that the so called idiot had a secret with him that only a few people knew about…

While his body was walking in auto-pilot as he made his way to the academy, Naruto's mind was thinking about what kind of prank he should do today.

_'Should I place that stink gas in Mizuki-sensei's desk? Nah, it would be too boring. Or maybe I should ruin the toilet? Nope, I already did it two weeks ago…Or I can paint the Hokage Monument like I had planned for a long time! But it will take some time to prepare for everything…Oh yeah! Today we had the Henge no Jutsu review! I'll use _that_ jutsu then…This will be fun!'_

Not a while later, Naruto found himself standing in front of the Academy's gate. Grinning, he fixed his goggles and shouted to himself, matching his usual loud and hyperactive personality.

"Alright, here I go!"

The classroom 302 was already filled with students and their chattering was heard in the whole room. They were doing various activities while waiting for their sensei to come. One boy was sleeping, another one was endlessly munching on his chips, another one was playing with a puppy, another one was stoically watching the class with occasionally fixing his dark glasses, and finally the last with a duck butt-like hair style was brooding over Kami-knows-what. There were also a girl who was timidly watching the class while playing with her finger and another two girls who were in a verbal fight.

"You think Sasuke-kun wants to sit next to you, forehead? In your dream!" shouted a blond haired girl.

"And what makes you think that he wants to sit next to you, pig!" shouted a pink haired girl back to her rival.

"Because I'm prettier than you are!"

"But I'm smarter than you!"

"Forehead!"

"Pig!"

"Pinky!"

"Blondie!"

And the banter goes on until the door slid open, revealing Naruto in his orange-ful glory with his trademark foxy grin etched on his face.

"Good morning, everyone! Uzumaki Naruto's here and today just another day in my long road to be the greatest Hokage ever! Believe it!"

His loud greeting caused the class to silent for a while and looked at him oddly. Ignoring the looks his classmate gave to him, he walked next to the pink haired girl.

"Hey, Sakura-chan. You look beautiful today. Want to go to a date with me after the school is over?" he asked to the girl who blinked in response.

Ten seconds later, the answer came with a punch to Naruto's face by the courtesy of an angry Haruno Sakura.

"Baka! I won't date you! Not even in a million years!"

Naruto quickly recovered and asked Sakura while rubbing his sore cheeks. "Ouch…that's pretty hurt. Why do you like Sasuke anyway?"

"Because Sasuke is so cool, handsome, a genius, and from a famous clan," answered Sakura as she crossed her hands. "He's nothing like you."

The blond shrugged and asked her. "That's what most girls said. But what made you really like him anyway?"

Sakura was taken aback with his question. Before she could asked what did he mean, Iruka entered the class and proceeded to do his usual routine, shutting up the class with his Scary Big Head Jutsu and calling the absent roll. After calling the absent roll, the Chuunin teacher then spoke to the students.

"Alright class, today we will do the review about Henge no Jutsu. Please line up in front of the class and transform into me using the jutsu."

One by one, the students transformed into their teacher using the Henge no Jutsu. When it was her turn, Sakura quickly pulled the transformation technique after shrugging off the question Naruto asked to her.

"Henge no Jutsu!"

With a puff of smoke, Sakura transformed into a perfect copy of Iruka. The real Iruka nodded with satisfaction and told her to dispel the jutsu.

"Did you see that, Sasuke-kun? I'm awesome!" she said to Sasuke who already back to his eat after finishing his turn.

The said boy promptly ignored her and returned to brooding. Seeing that her crush ignored her like that made Sakura looked down in sadness.

_'Why won't Sasuke-kun look at me? Or even recognize me?'_ she thought to herself sadly.

Naruto looked at Sakura for a while before he stepped in front of Iruka.

"Alright Naruto, it's your turn. You know what to do, right? And no funny business!" scolded the Chuunin as he saw the mischievous glint on Naruto's eyes.

"Fine, fine. I've changed my mind anyway," said Naruto uninterestedly to his teacher.

The blond formed the required hand seals and with a mutter of 'Henge no Jutsu' under his breath, he transformed into his teacher's perfect replica.

"Very good, Naruto. You really can do it if you put an effort into it," said Iruka with a warm smile.

"I'm not in the mood to do any prank today," replied Naruto. A grin then carved on his face as he saw Iruka's relieved look. "But I'm not promising anything."

The Chuunin teacher groaned and slapped his forehead. He should know better when it came to Uzumaki Naruto.

X-0-X-0-X-0-X-0-X

The class was over for today and some of the students still at the class, hanging out with their friends and whatnot. Naruto yawned loudly. As always, the Chuunin's lecture was very, VERY boring, and it was so easy to fall on the temptation to sleep during his lecture. He was about to leave when he saw Sakura asked Sasuke for a date, again.

"Sasuke-kun, will you go to a date with me?" she asked.

No response from the boy.

"Come on Sasuke-kun, just one date. I promise it will be fun," added Sakura.

Her hopes got up when Sasuke turned his head to her, but his glare made her flinched.

"Get lost," he replied coldly.

"B-But…" Sakura tried to say something, but the last Uchiha cut her off.

"I said get lost! You and all of those fan girls are really getting in my nerve! I'm sick with all of you! All you do are tailing me, asking me to those useless dates, and trying to get my attention instead of being a real kunoichi! Dating with any of you will just disgrace to me and my clan!"

Sasuke's outburst struck like a dagger to Sakura's heart and the other girls sans a certain Hyuuga heiress. The pink haired girl could only watch in disbelief as tears forming on her eyes.

"So let me get this straight, I will not and NEVER date any of you! Especially you," said Sasuke as he glared at Sakura.

"M-Me?"

"You're an ugly girl with a big forehead and weird pink hair, not to mention that you're very weak. Who would date someone like you?" the raven haired boy with a sneer.

That caused Sakura's heart to shatter into million pieces. Her crush had just belittled her in the worst way she could ever imagine. At this moment she was crying openly, pouring out her wounded heart.

"Oh, so now you're crying? What a—"

Sasuke never finished his line because Naruto punched him hard, right on his face. The blond watched the whole event with anger in his heart. He was holding himself until Sasuke belittled Sakura, his crush—no love, and that's where he snapped. The result was, he punched that bastard with all of his strength.

"That's enough, you asshole," said Naruto icily. "Your rejection is more than enough to make Sakura-chan sad. And now you belittle her? Just what kind of heartless bastard are you?"

Sasuke stood up and wiped off the blood on his lips. "This is not you're business, dobe."

"No, this is MY business because you have stepped over the boundary," replied Naruto, his tone getting colder than ever. "I know you're annoyed because of her and your other fan girls, but you can't just reject her like that! She is a human too, just like you! So you should at least consider her heart!"

"Naruto…" Sakura could only watch in disbelief with tears streaking down on her cheeks as she watched the even before her. Even all this time she was being mean to him and she found that he was very annoying, now he was defending her.

"She's not like me. She's just a commoner that can't compare to me, an Uchiha, the elite. Same goes for you, dobe," said Sasuke with a sneer.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at Sasuke and replied, "Looks like you need some lesson being humble, teme. Let's go outside, I'm going to kick your ass there."

Sasuke laughed. "You? The dobe want to fight me? Ha! I already know the result; you're not a match for me."

"Just don't get too cocky because you have a Persona," replied Naruto with a frown. He knew that Sasuke has a Persona and has awakened it for two weeks.

"I won't need my Persona to defeat you," replied Sasuke with a smirk.

"Just let get this over with," said Naruto as he walked out of the class with the last Uchiha following him suit.

The rest of the class went outside wanted to watch the fight between Naruto and Sasuke, though most of them already knew the result. If only they knew better…

Naruto and Sasuke stood facing each other on the Academy's Training Ground with their classmates around them. Both boys looked at each other for a while—righteous silent fury look for Naruto and arrogant look for Sasuke—before slipping into their Taijustu stances.

"You ready to lose, dobe?"

Naruto did not reply, he was still looking at Sasuke with that fury in his eyes.

As a leaf touch the ground, Sasuke quickly dashed toward his opponent with his fist cocked as he intended to finish the fight quickly. Naruto caught his fist, much to his surprise, and the blond elbowed his chest hard. Air was forced out of Sasuke's lung and the blond smashed the back of his hand to his face, before smashing his heels to the side of his head. The last Uchiha was sent soaring before landed on the ground violently. Naruto calmly looked at Sasuke who was trying to stand up and inwardly smirked as he saw the avenger wannabe glared at him hatefully.

"Alright, no more joking around!" roared Sasuke as he charged again with much faster speed than his first attempt.

Naruto calmly dodged his furious blows, one after another. Sasuke was clearly pissed off when he saw the supposed dobe was dodging his attacks like it was nothing. His anger made him overreached his punch and Naruto used this to land a hit into Sasuke's face, followed by a kick to his chest, creating more distance as Naruto leapt backward and not bothering to hide his smirk this time. Now he will gave that bastard a taste of his own medicine.

"What's wrong, teme? Got a dobe kicked your ass over?"

Sasuke growled as he wiped off the blood on his lips. "I'm going to make you pay for humiliating me!" The last Uchiha opened his palm and concentrated as a small blue tarot card appeared on it. He then crushed it and bellowed out loud. "Crush him, Kagutsuchi!"

The onlooking students could only watch in mixture of awe and fear as the being emerge from pillar of blue energy. It was a humanoid muscular creature with dark skin and his burning red eyes were glaring through his bronze mask. A bronze belt was securely wrapped on his waist, holding the tattered grey cloak that went above his knees. Flames were on its head like hair, his shoulder, his wrists, and his ankles. The Persona let out a sharp roar as he summoned to the mortal realm.

"How do you like my Persona, dobe?" asked Sasuke in glee, confident that he had this fight wrapped up.

Some of the spectators watched worriedly as they saw the newly summoned Persona, namely Hinata, because of her crush toward Naruto, and Sakura who was now praying for Naruto's safety. After he defended her from Sasuke's verbal abuse, she still needed to thank him and apologized to him for her behavior to him all the time.

Naruto glanced at the Persona and replied flatly. "Not impressed."

Sasuke's anger boiled up as he heard his opponent's reaction. "I'LL KILL YOU! KAGUTSUCHI, BASH!"

"What's going on here?" shouted Iruka as he arrived at the training ground. His eyes widened in fear as he saw Sasuke had his Persona summoned and ready to attack the defenseless Naruto. "SASUKE, STOP!"

As Kagutsuchi's fist approached, Naruto smirked as he opened his palm where a blue tarot card appeared. He then crushed it as he muttered under his breath. "Persona…!"

The black Persona's attack was halted abruptly as surging blue energy arouse around Naruto and a being emerged from it. He wore emerald colored robe with navy colored inner part along with emerald colored armored gloves and the same colored greaves over navy colored trousers. He wore sapphire colored mask over his face, allowing only his glowing teal eyes to be seen and has long blue hair that tied into pony tail. He wields a long sword on his right hand.

**_"Thou art I, and I am thou…From the ocean of soul, I have arrived…I am Susano-o, the trickster of storm…"_**

Sasuke was clearly taken aback when Naruto summoned his own Persona, so did everyone else who watched the fight. The emerald cloaked Persona has more comforting and much more powerful aura than Sasuke's Kagutsuchi. After summoning his Persona, Naruto shoved his hands to his pocket as Susano-o pointed his sword to Sasuke and Kagutsuchi.

"You're not the only one who has a Persona, Sasuke," stated Naruto calmly as he looked at Sasuke with an icy stare.

Sasuke broke form his stupor and glared back at Naruto. "So what if you also have a Persona? It doesn't matter to me! I'm still going to defeat you! Kagutsuchi!"

As it master ordered, the Emperor Arcana Persona roared and charged at Susano-o. Seeing his opponent's Persona attacked again, Naruto sighed.

"There is a difference between me and you Sasuke. You only awakened your Persona for two weeks, while me…" as Naruto left his sentence unfinished, Susano-o intercepted Kagutsuchi and blocked his attack. The Fool Arcana Persona then swatted his opponent's fist and disappeared before reappearing behind Kagutsuchi with his sword leveled on his side. "…already have my Persona for four years."

Three slash marks appeared on Kagutsuchi's body, causing him to howl in pain before disappearing. At the same time as his Persona howled in pain, Sasuke also cried in pain and collapsed as his Persona disappeared.

Dismissing his Persona, Naruto then turned around and said to the unconscious Uchiha without even looking at him. "Blade of Fury. That attack fits this situation, representing my fury toward you." He then turned to the watchers who were still shocked that he was able to summon a Persona and defeated Sasuke so easily. "He fainted because he also felt the pain that his Persona felt when Susano-o attacked. Don't worry about him."

He then walked away from the Academy Training Ground, leaving his classmates and teacher. As he walked further, Sakura suddenly called for him.

"Naruto! Wait!"

The blond stopped on his track and looked at the rosette. She was silent for a moment before looked at him and she said, "Thank you for defending me…and I'm sorry for how I treated you before…"

Naruto smiled at her in response. "Nah, don't mention it Sakura-chan. I always forgive you."

The blond then continued to walk away, leaving a completely stunned Sakura. As he reached the Academy's gate, he felt someone's presence nearby. He then spoke without even looking at the presence.

"I know what you're trying to say, but I will no longer use my mask from now on."

He could hear the presence sighed.

"But what about those old idiots at the civilian council? They will demand your head for 'hurting' their oh-so precious Uchiha."

"That asshole started the whole thing. He summoned his Persona first while I summoned mine in order to protect myself. And if they think that they can order me or the old man around, they will be arrested for trying to usurp the Hokage. They were there to _advice_ the Hokage, not to order him around. So it's up to the Hokage to take their advice or not."

Naruto smirked softly as he heard the giggles from the presence.

"Heh, pretty good otouto. Well, I have to go now. See you after you graduate."

"Yeah, see you soon Onee-san."

The presence left as Naruto walked to Ichiraku to have his daily ramen servings.

X-0-X-0-X-0-X-0-X

**A/N: That's it for the first chapter of my new story 'Naruto: Thousand Soul Phrases'. I'm dying to do a Naruto/Persona X-Over after playing 'Persona 3 Portable' for a while. I'm posting this on Naruto section rather than Naruto/Persona X-Over section because I'm hoping for more response from the readers because not many people read the crossover section (sad, but true). But if people started to like it, then I'm going to move it there. The pairing will be NaruSaku (of course), or maybe I'll do a NaruHarem if anyone wanted to. I'll open the vote after this story posted. As for my 'Naruto: A Different Path', I'll put it on hiatus for now. After re-reading it and pondering for a while, maybe I should rewrite it since it mostly written on my whim and it looked so rushed, leaving so many possible good scene left untold. Oh well now that's that, I hope you all like this new story of mine. R&R!**

_Compendium Corner_

Name: Susano-o  
Arcana: Fool  
Spiritual Level: 45  
Elemental Alignments: Wind (Resist), Electricity (Weak)  
Skills: Fatal End, Blade of Fury, Garula, Magarula, Rakunda, Masukukaja, Wind Break, Wind Boost  
Compendium Info: One of the three Deities that born after Izanagi's failed attempt to retrieve Izanami from Yomi, along with Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi. Susano-o was also known as the powerful storm of Summer and a trickster. He was banished from Takamagahara after his fit of rage, but returned after slaying Yamata-no-Orochi.

Name: Kagutsuchi  
Arcana: Emperor  
Spiritual Level: 10  
Elemental Alignments: Fire (Resist), Ice (Weak)  
Skills: Bash, Agi, Tarukaja  
Compendium Info: The fire Deity from Shinto Mythology. During his birth, his flames burned his mother, Izanami, and mortally wounded her to her death. Izanagi, his father, then killed him and cut his body to eight pieces which become eight volcanoes.


	2. The Priestess' Resolution

Naruto: Thousand Soul Phrases  
I do not own anything related to Naruto or Persona series

Summary: The power of Persona awakened in the world of ninjas. Along with that, the wielder of Wild Card also has been chosen. What kind of destiny that awaits Naruto at the end of his 'Journey'? Naruto/Persona X-Over NaruSaku, possible NaruHarem, strong Naruto

Chapter 2: The Priestess' Resolution

Sakura was walking to her home with her mind was thinking about the events that happened during the end of the academy today. First was about Sasuke's harsh rejection to the whole fan girls of his, including her. Her heart felt hurt when she remembered his words, calling her ugly girl with big forehead and weird pink hair. Ever since she was a little girl, the other kids will always pick on her because of her hair and forehead. She never had a friend until Ino came and they become best friends. Their friendship ended when she learned Ino also liked Sasuke and since then, they became bitter rivals. To think that Sakura ended her friendship with Ino just for that cold frigid emo bastard made her felt guilty and now she realized what did Naruto meant by what did she like about Sasuke. She didn't really like Sasuke, she only wanted to fit in with the others. She didn't want to be alone and estranged, but now she realized that her act made her alone because she has estranged herself in her delusion.

The other that she was thinking about was about Naruto. Her mother once said that she should befriend him, but she followed the other kids that always teased and belittled him. She knew that he had crush on her and always asked her to go to a date with him, which she always reject and hit him on the face. Not only that, she always hit him when he greeted her or just being nice to her. But never had she seen he was angry to her, he even protected her when Sasuke verbally abused her today and told her that he always forgive her. She realized what kind of person she has become and she didn't like it.

'_God, I'm such a selfish bitch…__I only cared about myself and didn't give a damn to the others…'_ she thought to herself glumly.

"**About time you realize this,"** her inner self chided in.

Ever since she was always bullied back then when she was younger, Sakura had developed an inner personality where she repressed her feelings and emotion. Her inner self—dubbed Inner Sakura—always antagonized her acts when it came to Sasuke and her social life.

"**You know I was right and you should've ****listened to me, but no, you choose to ignore me. You keep deluding yourself that you liked Sasuke and just go with the crowd. Do you know what kind of bitch you have become?"**

'_You don't have to remind me__…Don't you suppose to support me or cheer me up when I was down?'_

"**That's someone else's role, not mine."**

Not a while later, Sakura arrived in her house. She opened the door and greeted her mother who was relaxing on the living room.

"I'm home…"

"Welcome back, Sakura," replied Haruno Yukari, Sakura's mother. She looked like Sakura, only she was older and her hair was darker shade of pink. Noticing the saddened look of her daughter, Yukari asked to her daughter. "What's wrong Sakura? You look so down."

The younger girl then took a seat next to her mother and then told her the whole event at the academy. Sasuke's harsh rejection and belittlement, Naruto came up and defended her, and the fight between Naruto and Sasuke. Sakura also told her mother about the conclusion she made about what she has become.

"I guess you must be disappointed at me, mom…I mean, I just don't want to be alone again, but I made a choice that turned me for the worse…."

Yukari sighed as she hugged her daughter and gently stroked her hair. "It's alright, Sakura. Everyone made a mistake too and sometimes, it was bigger than we could admit."

Sakura then looked up to her mother who was smiling sadly at a portrait in the cabinet. She followed her gaze and saw the photo of Yondaime Hokage, a person that very precious to her mother and apparently her mother's first love.

"I followed my parents' wish rather than followed what my heart really wanted. Me and Minato-kun were already dating back then and we were very happy together. However, my parents never approved him because even if Minato-kun was a talented ninja—considered as a once-in-a-hundred-year genius even—, he was an orphan. His unknown lineage made my parents didn't like him. I always believed my parents because I think they were always right and I wanted to please them, so I can't refuse when they asked me to break up with Minato-kun. That was the biggest mistake I've ever made. I remembered how hard I cried after I told him the bad news and how sad he looked that time. After I married with your father, I tried my best to love him but I couldn't love him as much I loved Minato-kun. That's why I never pushed you or restricted you with your choices, but maybe I should convince you more that you should befriended Naruto or following the crowd is not always the best option," said Yukari as she wiped her tears.

"It was me who made the choice and I ignored your advices, so anyone to blame was me," replied Sakura as she hugged her mother.

"**What about me? You also ignored my advices, too."**

'_Shut up. You're ruining the mood.'_

"My little girl is growing up," said Yukari as she returned the hug.

They stayed like that for a while before Sakura broke the hug and looked up to her mother. "Mom, can you do me a favor?"

"What is it dear?"

"Well…"

X-0-X-0-X-0-X-0-X

As always, the students of the class 302 were busy with their activities. Today however, they were talking about the fight between Naruto and Sasuke, namely about both of them being Persona Users. Also, they were talking about Naruto's statement that said he already has his Persona for four years. The chatters were stopped when the door opened and Sakura walked in to the class. Noticing that the stares of her classmates were directed to her, Sakura asked them.

"What is it?"

"What did you do to your hair, forehead?" asked Ino, voicing the general curiosity of the class.

Sakura's back-length pink hair now was cut short, barely reaching her shoulders.

"You can think this as a sign of my resolution," answered Sakura as she walked to her former and soon-to-be-once-again best friend. "Ino, I…I wanted to apologize to you for breaking our friendship years ago. Actually, I don't like Sasuke the way I always bragging about. I did it just because I wanted to fit in with everyone else, because I don't want to be alone anymore. But I realized that I have pushed my only friend away for my stupid ego." Tears were now forming on her jade green eyes and she looked at Ino. "Can we…can we be friends again, Ino-chan?"

The blond girl smiled in response and hugged her. "Of course, Sakura-chan. I always wanted my best friend back."

"Arigatou, Ino-chan," replied Sakura as she returned the hug. They then broke the hug and Sakura spoke, "Now I only need to apologize to Naruto as well. After all he was being so nice to me, but I was being a bitch to him. He defended me yesterday when that…that duck-butt asshole belittled me and I owe him a thank you, too."

Ino laughed when she heard what Sakura referred Sasuke to. "Yeah, I guess owe him an 'I'm sorry for being a dumb bitch', too."

"So, we apologize to him together?" asked Sakura with a smile.

"Together," answered Ino with a smile of her own.

The reconciled friends sat next to each other as they were catching up with the years that they lost as friends. Iruka then entered the class and called up the absent roll, but there were no signs of Naruto or Sasuke. The latter was still hospitalized because of yesterday's event. Iruka was about to call Naruto's name when the door opened, revealing the said boy.

"Sorry I'm late, Iruka-sensei. My alarm clock back home was late for five minutes," said the blond.

"Naruto?" the Chuunin asked, blinking.

"Yeah?"

"Is that you?"

"Of course it's me. Why did you ask, sensei?"

"No, it's just…you're not wearing orange."

"Is that supposed to be a problem?"

Indeed, Uzumaki Naruto, aka the boy who always wearing orange, now NOT wearing anything orange. He wore blue long sleeved turtleneck shirt with gray vest over it and a pair of blue trousers. His green goggles now were gone, letting some of his hair fall before his eyes. A pair of headphones was on his ears with its cord going down beneath his vest, straight to his left pocket.

"No, it isn't. Just take your seat."

Shrugging his shoulders, Naruto walked to an empty seat in the middle row while Sakura who was looking at him curiously as did the rest of the class. As the blond sat down, Sakura couldn't help but stealing glances at him. He looked so different today, not only in his new outfit but also in his personality. He was not as loud as usual and now he rather silent and subdued, but he still has that warm and friendly aura around him.

'_I hope he didn't change too much. I still need to apologize to him,'_ thought Sakura as she went to listen to Iruka's lecture.

X-0-X-0-X-0-X-0-X

The lunch period came and the students were quickly bustling out of the classroom, wanting to get some fresh air to clear their mind after Iruka's lecture. It wasn't their fault if the lecture was so boring and could be considered as an effective mental torture. Naruto was about to leave for lunch when he heard Sakura was calling for him.

"Um, Naruto?"

"Yeah? What is it, Sakura-chan?" he asked as he removed his headphones and slung them on his neck.

"Would you like to have a lunch with me? There's something that I wanted to tell you," asked Sakura.

In the background, you can hear a sharp shocked gasp from Hinata. The rest of the students who managed to hear the conversation also looked at Naruto and Sakura with interest.

"Sure, I'd like to," replied Naruto, and another gasp was heard from somewhere in the class.

"Okay then, Ino-chan will come with us. She also has something to say to you too," said Sakura.

"No problem with me. The more, the merrier," replied the blond with a grin.

As the trio walked out of the classroom, someone shouted that Hinata fainted and quickly brought the poor heiress to the infirmary. Naruto, Sakura, and Ino found a vacant table in academy's courtyard where they sat together, Sakura and Ino next to each other while Naruto sat in front of them. The two girls took out their bentos and surprisingly for them, Naruto also took out his bento too.

"You two must be surprised to see me having a bento instead of instant ramen," said Naruto.

"Yeah, I am," replied Ino. "Did you make them yourself, Naruto?"

"Sure did," replied Naruto. "So what is it that you wanted to talk me with?"

"Well…" Sakura shifted a bit before she continued. "I wanted to apologize to you for being such a bitch. I…I tried to fit in with the others so that I have more friends, but it turned that I become lonely and become a person that I really don't like. I hit you too much for a not a good reason, but yet you never antagonized me. And…you defended me yesterday when that duck-ass belittled me. So I guess I should say thank you too."

"You already apologized and thanked me yesterday, Sakura-chan," Naruto pointed out.

"I did. But I still feel needed to apologize to you," Sakura persisted.

"You don't have to apologize to me, Sakura-chan. I do realize that I deserved some of those beatings," replied Naruto.

"But…still…" the pink haired girl didn't sound so convinced.

"How about forget what happened in the past and we start a new blank slate between us?"

Sakura then looked at Naruto who was smiling at her. She knew he was being sincere with his offer and he was trying to get her off from her guilt. The pink haired girl smiled back at him and blushed as she accepted his offer.

"Alright, I'd like that Naruto."

"Cool," Naruto then turned to his fellow blond. "What about you, Ino? You think we can do the same as I did with Sakura-chan?"

"Sure we can, Naruto. Besides, I think I need more boys as friends aside of Shika and Chouji," replied Ino with a smile. "But first things first, I'm sorry for how I acted toward you when I was one of that frigid emo's fan girl."

"Apology accepted, Ino-chan," he said, adding the suffix to her name causing the girl to blush.

Sakura giggled when she saw her best friend's reddening face. "Looks like someone have a crush."

"Shut it forehead! It's not like I don't notice your blush earlier!" countered a flustering Ino.

"Shut up, pig!" now it was Sakura's turn to be flustered.

Naruto just laughed heartily at the two friends' bickering. Sakura and Ino looked at the whiskered blond for a moment before laughing together with him.

The three now friends ate their bentos as they chatted about themselves. Naruto learned that Sakura has photographic memory, which explained why she was so smart in theories, and she enjoyed sushi while Ino has a vast knowledge about plants and flower, which was reasonable since she was working part time at her parents flower shop, and she liked dango a lot—which reminded Naruto to a certain sadistic snake summoning Tokubetsu Jounin. In return, the girls learned that Naruto left the village to train with a ninja after he awakened his Persona four years ago when he was ten years old. He traveled with his mentor to the Outside World—a term for the place outside of Elemental Country—during his training and returned two years ago.

"So you actually already visited the Outside World? That's amazing! What kinds of place are there, Naruto?" asked Sakura, excited to learn about what kind of life across the ocean.

"Well, it was different from one place to another. There was one place which is very normal and much more advanced than the Elemental Country. And there was also a place where three fractions of humans that were fighting against each other using demons," answered Naruto.

"D-Demons? L-Like the Kyuubi?" Ino was terrified. They used demons for war?

"The demons were varied in strength and some of them were said to be stronger than Kyuubi itself. What worse, the humans were able to summon the demons using a device that by-passed the rituals needed to summon them." Naruto still remembered clearly that place. He and his mentor have to fight to near death several times in order to protect themselves from the demons and their summoners.

"T-That was scary…" replied Sakura. Somehow, she lost the interest about what Outside World looked like.

"Enough of that. What else you girls wanted to know?" asked Naruto trying to change the subject.

"If you were taken to train since you were eight years old, then why did you pretend to be an obnoxious, loudmouthed idiot?" asked Ino curiously.

"There were several reasons for it, Ino-chan. One, I can make people underestimated me and it gave me the advantage for the element of surprise, just like what I did to Sasuke. Two, I'm trying to live on the saying 'A ninja's greatest weapon is deception'. Three, I have a bad blood with the Civilian Council and to save myself and Hokage-jiichan from more trouble, I decided to play by their hands making them to think that I was weaker than Sasuke. Four, it's a big prank and I love pranks," said Naruto with his foxy grin at the last part.

The girls giggled when they heard his answer. Apparently, Naruto did like pranks, with or without his false personality. The three of them chatted a bit more as they ate their lunch before they returned to the class as the bell rang, signaling the lunch period is over.

X-0-X-0-X-0-X-0-X

The class has ended for today and the students were heading to their home, so did Sakura and Ino. While they were talking to each other as they walked out of the academy, the rosette spotted Naruto who was also heading back to his apartment and quickly called him.

"Hey, Naruto!"

The said blond turned to see Sakura and smiled at her as she walked to him.

"Are you going home, Naruto?"

"Yeah, I am. How about you, Sakura-chan?"

"I'm going to hang out with Ino a bit before heading home. You want to come along?" offered Sakura, as she was hoping that Naruto will accept her offer.

"Nah, I don't want to disturb you and Ino-chan. Both of you wanted to catch up with the year you lost because of your rivalry, right? You girls should go and have some fun together," Naruto declined her offer politely.

"Well, yeah," replied Sakura. A part of her saddened that Naruto won't come along as she wanted to know the boy better, but another part of her respected his choice. "Anyway, if you have a problem, don't hesitate to speak with me or Ino-chan. After all we're friends, right?"

"Thanks, I'll remember that Sakura-chan," said Naruto with a smile. "I'll see you tomorrow, then?"

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow Naruto-kun."

The blond boy then walked away and Sakura walked back to Ino who was waiting for her.

"So, he decided to decline your offer then?" asked the blond girl as she raised her eyebrow.

"W-What are you saying, Ino?" sputtered Sakura.

"I know you're inviting him to come with us, but he decided to give us time together to catch up," answered Ino with a knowing look. "Too bad, I really wanted to know him better."

Sakura's eyes widened before narrowing at the blond girl.

Ino giggled at her best friend's reaction. "I'm just teasing you, Sakura-chan."

"Mou, Ino-chan!" whined Sakura, only to have Ino laugh at her.

The hanging out with Ino was pleasant to Sakura. They managed to catch up more, continuing from before Iruka-sensei entered the class. It was fun to have a girl around your age to hang around and chat about girl stuff. Sure there are others, but she wasn't close with them and her attempt to 'fit-in' failed badly. There was also Hinata, but that girl was far too shy.

"I kinda missed this, Ino-chan. You and me together hanging around like this," said Sakura as she took a sip of her green tea and sighed. "I really wondered how I could become so stupid to break our friendship for just trying to fit in with the others."

"Me too. Maybe back then, I shouldn't let you to break our friendship. But I choose over my stupid ego and I really regret it," replied

Sakura chuckled softly. "My mom said that we often made mistakes in our life and sometimes it was larger than we could admit." The pink haired girl closed her eyes as she steeled her resolve. "I already made mistake before and I won't repeat it. I tossed away my friendship with you and become someone that I really don't like just to fit in with the others. But no more of that, I will follow myself and choose what I want to be. To hell with what the others think about me! I am myself and I choose what I wanted to be!"

After she said that, the time seemed to freeze as Sakura was pulled into her mind. There she found someone who looked like her, only her eyes were shining yellow. The Sakura look alike giggled as the real Sakura looked dumbfounded and surprised.

"**Hey, what's with that shocked face?"** said the yellow-eyed Sakura.

"W-What's happening? Who are you?" asked Sakura, confused.

"**Come on now, do you forget about me? I'll give you a hint then; I'm the voice inside your big forehead."**

Sakura's eyes widened as she realized who the doppelganger in front of her was. "You are…the Inner me…"

"**Bingo!"** Inner Sakura cheered as she clapped her hands.

"But…what's happening here?"

"**I just wanted to meet you. I am born from the emotion and feelings that you repressed back when you were younger. As the time pass on, I grew as more and more emotion you repressed. Do you remember what kind of emotion that gave birth to me?"** Inner Sakura asked as the real Sakura nodded and looked down. It was something that she really didn't want to remember.

"I…was so lonely…and angry because the other kids were picking on me. Then…Ino-chan came and we become friends. She always protected me from those bullies and always encouraged me to believe myself more. I was happy…but also jealous at her because she was everything that I wished to become…beautiful…brave…I always stood in her shadow. Although a part of me was saddened when I broke up my friendship with her, but another part of me happy…that I'm finally free from her shadow."

"**Uh huh, but you actually forgetting something important,"** commented the doppelganger, causing the real rosette to look at her questioningly. **"Your admiration to a certain blue-eyed whiskered blond."**

Sakura's eyes widened and blushed profusely as she heard that.

"**You always admired Naruto for his guts, his courage, and his determination to reach his goal without caring about what other people thinks about him. Even before he revealed his true self, you always admired him, but again your try to fit in with the others made you repressed that feeling and you believed that you hate him. But now that your eyes have opened and he revealed his true self, your feeling to him has changed."**

The real Sakura looked down to her feet, still blushing. Was she started to like Naruto more than a friend?

"But…we're not even that close…"

"**That's why you invited him to hang out with you and Ino. You wanted to know him better and want to be closer to him, but you also afraid that Ino will start to like him and take him away from you. That's why you're mad when she teased you."**

That made Sakura to think. Sure that she was a bit mad and jealous when Ino teased her. Which one will she choose? Her best friend or a boy she has come to like?

"I…I already made my choice not to make any mistake anymore," said the real Sakura, the resolve in her eyes unwavering. "I won't lose my friend to anything at all and definitely not for a boy."

There was silence between the two Sakuras before Inner Sakura started to chuckle.

"**Well, that did it. Glad to see your resolve didn't waver when you were faced with your hidden emotions. Most people when they were confronted with this kind of situation will be freaked out and will do anything to deny their hidden feelings,"** responded Inner Sakura.

"It was because they never aware of their other selves. Me on the other hand always knew you were there, the feelings that I repress and hide," replied Sakura with a smile. "You are a part of me…no, you are me and I am you."

Inner Sakura smiled and nodded as a familiar blue energy surrounded her and her figure then transmogrified into something else. Her skin now was pale and her body was wrapped in a reddish pink sleeveless kimono that bound together by white obi and stopped in her mid thighs. Lower half of her arms were covered by bell sleeves and she wore open toed boots on her feet, both of her half sleeves and boots were in the same color as her kimono. Her eyes were covered by dark blue visor and her long waist-length pink hair was held by red hair band with cherry blossoms on the side. She was holding cherry blossom-motived fans on both of her hands.

"_**Thou art I, and I am thou…from the reflection of thy soul, I have emerged…I am Konohana-Sakuya, the embodiment of spring…"**_

Sakura stared at her newly awakened Persona in awe. She couldn't believe that now she was a Persona User like the boy she admired and crushing on. Konohana-Sakuya then disappeared and a blue tarot card appeared in Sakura's hand. She flipped it over to see her Persona's image on it and smiled.

"So all this time you are my Persona, huh?" she asked.

Without anything to do there anymore, Sakura was pushed out of her mind.

"Hey Sakura-chan, are you okay?"

Sakura blinked as she back to the real world and saw Ino was calling for her and waved her hand in front of the pink haired girl's face.

"Uh, yeah. I'm okay Ino-chan," she answered.

"What's wrong with you? One moment you're so determined and the next moment you're spacing out!" said the blond girl worriedly.

"It's nothing, really!" assured Sakura, smiling at her best friend.

X-0-X-0-X-0-X-0-X

**A/N: Chapter 2 done. No action on this one as it was focused on Sakura. I always think that Inner Sakura fits the position as a Shadow since she is Sakura's hidden and repressed emotion. She is rather a peaceful one since she managed to establish a link with the outer Sakura, making Sakura totally aware of her existence as her Shadow—but she refer her as her 'inner self'. As my choice of Persona for Sakura, Konohana-Sakuya fits her perfectly. You'll find out why in the compendium corner. It was quite fun to write this chapter in my opinion as I can explore more on Sakura's character from my point of view. By the way, check my profile for the poll of Naruto's member of harem aside of Sakura. Please leave a review if you like this story!**

_Compendium Corner_

Name: Konohana-Sakuya  
Arcana: Priestess  
Spiritual Level: 15  
Elemental Alignments: Fire (Null), Wind (Resist), Ice (Weak)  
Skills: Dia, Posumundi, Garu, Magaru  
Info: The daughter of the mountain god Ohoyamatsumi, the wife of Ninigi-no-Mikoto—Amaterasu's grandson, and the cherry blossom princess as well as the symbol of delicate earthly life. On her first night of marriage, she got pregnant and accused by her husband for infidelity. She then entered a doorless hut and set it on fire while claiming that the fire won't touch her if she was loyal to her husband, then emerged unscathed.

Note: Changed the elemental alignment for Konohana-Sakuya.


	3. Bonding Time and the Training

Naruto: Thousand Soul Phrases  
I do not own anything related to Naruto or Persona series

Summary: The power of Persona awakened in the world of ninjas. Along with that, the wielder of Wild Card also has been chosen. What kind of destiny that awaits Naruto at the end of his 'Journey'? Naruto/Persona X-Over NaruSaku, possible NaruHarem, strong Naruto

Chapter 3 Bonding Time and the Training

The night was already late when Naruto was deeply asleep in his apartment. His sleep was dreamless one, but he soon felt that his consciousness—or rather, his unconsciousness— was being pulled away somewhere. When Naruto was fully awake, he found himself in a room that mainly painted in velvet blue color that gave off mysterious atmosphere to the room with the a lamp that hanging in the ceiling with blue flames on the torches did help to amplify the mysterious atmosphere in the room by several times. Books were neatly organized on the shelves in one side of the room and several high-class liquors and expensive looking glasses were on the other shelves in another side of the room. The blonde found himself seated in a very comfortable and expensive leather couch—in velvet blue color of course. A weird looking old man was sitting in a big chair that usually the big boss of a company sat on—again in velvet blue color behind a working desk. He has a pair of large round eyes, nearly balding head, with white hair, long pointed nose, and wearing a complete tuxedo set. On his side, there was a woman with long flowing sliver hair and gold eyes. She was wearing blue gothic dress complete with black ribbons on her hair and around her neck like a choker and she had a large and thick book with her—also in velvet blue color. Behind the old man was a velvet blue curtain (**A/N moment for a bit: What's with Atlus and their near obsession with blue color? I admit blue is nice…but too much makes it too eerie**) with gold trimmings that covered Kami-knows-what.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room…" said the old man with an eerie grin that seemed to be always on his face.

"Hello Igor, Natasha," greeted Naruto.

"Hello to you too, Naruto," the sliver haired woman that now identified as Natasha greeted Naruto back.

"So, why did you call me? I was having a nice dreamless sleep when you suddenly pulled me here," asked the blonde Jinchuuriki as he crossed his arm, annoyed that his sleep was disturbed.

"I'm here to forewarn you that your Journey is about to begin," answered Igor, unfazed by his guest's annoyance. "I hope you remember about your contract."

The servant of Philemon swiped his hand on his table and a red map suddenly appeared. The map then opened by itself and a writing was revealed inside.

_'I choose to sign this contract by my own free will and I accept the full responsibility in accordance of my decisions and actions.'_

Naruto's full name was written on the space below the vow.

"Of course I remember, Igor," said Naruto as he looked at contract. "There's no way I would forget the day I first entered this bizarre place."

"Excellent," Igor chuckled as he made the map disappeared as the way it appeared. "We will have to see what kind of trials that you will face and the destiny that awaits you on the end of your journey."

Naruto snorted. "I don't believe that destiny sets in stone. Destiny is created by your own hands and they who said that their future is already decided by fate are weak people."

"Ah, I see your view about destiny and fate hasn't changed yet. Very good, your determination is very strong, just like our previous guests," replied Igor.

"Speaking of which, have you ever heard anything from your tenant Naruto?" asked Natasha.

"No, the furball hasn't spoken to me yet lately. It's not like I missed him anyway," answered Naruto.

"I see…but please try to contact him. He was a part of you and he may become a help in the moment of imminent danger," replied the silver haired woman.

"Time marches on in your world, as so I can't keep you here any longer. Until we meet again, my dear guest."

With that, Naruto's vision turned white before blacking out again.

X-0-X-0-X-0-X-0-X

Friday morning finally came in Konoha as the sun slowly rose from the horizon. In his apartment, Naruto was preparing himself for today. He was having a plate of rice complete with stir-fried vegetable and chicken along with a glass of milk for a breakfast. He still have a lot of time before the academy started, so he ate his breakfast at a slow pace while reading a book he found on the Outer World. Naruto enjoyed reading books—a sharp contrast to his fake personality—, especially books about mythologies and legends from the Ancient Age—the time before the Great Catastrophe. He found the myth stuffs fascinated him, so he bought them as much as he could find and the Jinchuuriki enjoyed it so much.

_'Not to mention that Personas were based from legends and mythologies,'_ he thought to himself as he flipped another page from his book. _'Maybe Sakura-chan will enjoy reading these kind of books, too. Heh, better brought it with me then.'_

After finishing his breakfast, Naruto decided to take a shower and emerged from his bathroom ten minutes later. After he got dressed, he took the book with him and turned on his MP3 Player after placing the headphones on his ears.

Naruto walked leisurely on the streets of Konoha, ignoring the heated glares and whispers from the villagers. He ignored them as usual and he was doing a better job for it since he had his MP3 Player with him. He really did a good job on his collection of songs, it really help him to calm his nerves and ignoring the villagers. He kept on walking while listening to the song on his MP3 Player until a kunai was thrown at him. Whipping a kunai of his own, he blocked the projectile weapon causing it to fell to the ground, clattering harmlessly.

"Can't you use a normal greeting instead this?" asked Naruto as he looked at the direction where the kunai came from.

A figure then jumped from the top of buildings and landed in the ground near the blond, a figure that really familiar to Naruto.

"Come on, where is the fun of that?" asked Mitarashi Anko, in her full mesh-netted glory, back to Naruto.

"You're helpless," Naruto sighed as he stored his kunai back to its holster.

"Hey, you look good on that, Naru-kun," said the Tokubetsu Jounin seductively as she walked closer to the young blond. She bended her body to his level and slung her arm over his shoulder, pulling him closer as she made sure that he would feel her generous sized bust. "You should wear this often. That and the headphone make you looks so cool…How about we go for a date?"

"Thanks Anko-chan, but I need to go to the academy," said the blond politely refusing her offer as he tried to pry himself off from her, but to no avail. "Besides, doesn't this make you look like a shotacon?"

"I don't give a damn about what people thinks about me," replied the purple haired woman as she pulled Naruto closer to her. "You already learn so much when you were out with Setsu-chan, so why bother to come to the academy?"

"Because I can see my friends there," answered Naruto simply.

Anko was about to say something when she heard someone was calling for her lovable blond.

"Naruto-kun?"

Turning around, Naruto saw that Sakura was calling for him. She had this uneasy look on her when she saw her blonde haired friend (read: crush) was being hugged by a very sexy older woman.

"Who is that, Naru-kun?" the pink haired girl visibly flinched when Anko called Naruto like that. "Don't tell me she is your new girlfriend! Is everything I have done for you is not enough? Do you forget the fun stuffs we do together years ago at the forest are not fun?"

"Let me go, Anko-chan! You're giving her the wrong idea!" shouted Naruto as he managed to get himself free from the snake summoning Jounin's hug.

"Aww, you're no fun," mock pouted Anko. "Ah well, it's not like I couldn't get a share of you later. See ya around, Naru-kun!"

The purple haired Jounin then disappeared with Shunshin no Jutsu, leaving a confused Sakura and an exasperated Naruto.

"Who is she?" asked Sakura.

"Mitarashi Anko, a Tokubetsu Jounin and a good friend of my mentor," answered Naruto. "She's a good person if you managed to see past of her antiques."

"Okay…" the pink haired girl responded uncertainly.

The two friends then started to walk to the Academy and chatted along the way. Naruto also presented the book that he planned to lean to Sakura which she happily accepted, seeing that she was a big fan of reading and a book from the Ancient Age was definitely something she won't miss at all. They arrived in the class and sat on their seat next to each other with Ino sat next to Sakura, noticing that Sasuke was there and glaring daggers at Naruto. Despite his outburst two days ago, some of his fan girls still were ogling on the last Uchiha.

"I thought the emo king will lose his fan girls after what happened," commented Ino as she saw the scene with disgust.

"To think that I was like them just to fit in…" replied Sakura with a sigh.

"I think Sasuke is a gay," stated Naruto out loud, causing the whole class to stop their activities and looked at the blond. Sasuke was glaring even more murderously at him. "I mean come on, you never saw any hints of Sasuke being interested to any girl at all and he ignored any of them. What makes that you didn't think him as a gay?"

"Watch your mouth, dobe!" snarled Sasuke.

Naruto ignored him and continued to speak. "It seems that he doesn't realize that when he said that he wanted to revive his clan, he has become a prime target for fan girl aside of his look and cool and dark attitude," he then turned to the raven haired boy, "You do know where babies come from, right?"

"I don't know and don't care about it! You better learn to shut up or I will make you!" growled the last Uchiha. He noticed the weird look his classmates were giving him. "What is it?"

"Dude, you don't know where the babies come from?" It was Kiba who said that, disbelievingly. "Even I know about it. Heh, I guess the so great Uchiha Sasuke isn't so great at all."

Sasuke was visibly fuming and seething when most of the class laughed at him. How dare they make fun of him? He, Uchiha Sasuke, one of the Uchiha, the elite? But before he could blow off, Iruka entered the class and began the usual routine.

X-0-X-0-X-0-X-0-X

Lunch period finally came and some of the Genin-to-bes wasted no time to get out of the class and spend their lunch outside. Sakura had invited Naruto to the lunch with her since Ino was spending the lunch period with Shikamaru and Chouji which the blond happily accepted. Before they got out from the class, Sasuke stopped them.

"Dobe!" there were anger and fury on Sasuke's eyes as he said so.

"What is it, Sasuke?" asked Naruto.

"I challenge you to a fight," challenged the last Uchiha.

"Not interested," replied the blond nonchalantly

Sasuke was furious at Naruto's dismissal, but an idea that he thought could work popped in his head.

"Are you scared, dobe?" he said with a smug smirk, confident that Naruto will take the bait he set.

"I just don't want to humiliate you more, teme. Besides, you're too troublesome to be dealt with," replied Naruto indignantly.

Sasuke was fuming when his tactic to bait Naruto didn't work.

"Let's go, Sakura-chan. We will miss the lunch if we deal with Sasuke any longer."

Naruto and Sakura left the infuriated Sasuke as the last Uchiha was letting out string of curses and profanities toward the blond while being back by some random boys. They headed to the roof top where they will most likely not be bothered with the avenger wannabe. When they reach there, they sat on the floor and Sakura took out two bentos.

"Here, Naruto-kun. I made this myself and I hope you like it," said Sakura as she handed one of the bentos to Naruto with a blush.

"Thanks, Sakura-chan," replied Naruto with a smile etched in his face.

The headphone wearing blonde opened the bento and took the first bite. Sakura nervously watched Naruto and waited for his response as she tightened the grip on her own bento. The blond chewed the food for several times and gulped it down.

"So…how was it?" the rosette asked, her heart was thumping hardly as she waited for her crush's response.

"It was delicious, Sakura-chan! You were even better than my mentor!" the blond answered with a delighted smile.

Sakura was blushing and smiling shyly at Naruto after she was praised by her crush.

"T-Thank you, Naruto-kun…" responded the rosette, stuttering, as she ate her bento.

"Also, congratulations on awakening your Persona Sakura-chan."

Sakura turned to Naruto with a surprised look evident on her face. "You know I awakened my Persona?"

"I can sense if a person have awakened his or her Persona and I also can see the basic information about that Persona, too," replied Naruto as he took another bite of the bento.

"That's a rather useful ability, Naruto-kun," commented Sakura in awe.

"It is. I have this ability ever since I first awakened my Persona four years ago," said the blond.

As the two of them keep on eating their lunch, they didn't notice that a certain blue haired heiress was spying at them. Hinata had been tailing them since they left the class and had been eavesdropping on their conversation. Jealousy was evident on her eyes when she heard Naruto complemented Sakura for her bento and learned that the pink haired girl was a Persona User. A part of her didn't want to bother them, but another part of her wanted to butt in. She didn't realize while she was debating internally, Naruto noticed her and called for her.

"Hey, Hinata! What are you doing there?"

Letting out a startled squeal, the pale eyed girl was broken out from her deep thought. Calming down her hammering chest, she responded to her not so secret crush.

"I…Uh…I was w-wondering, Naruto-kun. Can I j-join you?"

"Sure you can, Hinata. Come over here!"

Happy was an understatement to Hinata as Naruto invited her to spend the lunch with him. The Hyuuga heiress walked toward the pair and sat next to the blond. She shyly glanced at her crush while eating her lunch and blushed occasionally. Of course, Sakura wasn't happy that her time and Naruto was disturbed by Hinata, AKA the shy stuttering girl, AKA the girl who had the biggest crush on her crush.

"So, what brings you here Hinata?" asked Sakura. She knew the reason why did the girl was here, but she pretended to don't know. Besides, Hinata always spend her lunch alone.

"W-Well, I w-was h-hoping to h-have the l-lunch with N-Naruto-kun. T-That's all," answered Hinata.

"Really?" said Naruto, surprised that a girl wanted to spend the lunch period with him.

"Y-Yes," replied Hinata. "I-I even m-make a b-bento for you, b-but it seems S-Sakura-san b-beats me to it." The blue haired girl sulked a bit at that. If only she came faster…

"Uh…sorry about that, Hinata," Naruto apologized.

"D-Don't worry about it, N-Naruto-kun," replied Hinata. "I-I'm happy for j-just having the l-lunch with you."

Naruto didn't know how to respond on that, so he returned to his lunch.

The three of them spend the lunch in awkward silence after that, with Sakura and Hinata occasionally glancing at their blonde haired crush. One time, they caught each other's gaze and ended up glaring on each other. Unknown to them, Naruto noticed the exchange between the two girls. He then tried to break the silence by starting a conversation.

"Are you free tomorrow, Sakura-chan?"

The pink haired girl broke off from her glaring contest, surprised to hear that Naruto was asking her about what she will do tomorrow.

"Y-Yeah, I'm free," she answered. "What is it, Naruto-kun?"

"Do you want to train with me? I see that you need some training after you slack off when you were a part of Sasuke's fan girls. Besides, you can familiarize yourself with your Persona."

Sakura blushed at the reminder. Like any other fan girls, she practically ditched her training in favor of ways to get the Uchiha's affection. Now she needed to train badly and also, she needed to familiarize herself with her Persona. What good of having a supernatural power without know how to control it?

"Alright, I will train with you Naruto-kun," answered Sakura.

"Cool. I will pick you up in your home at 7 am in the morning. Don't forget to rest well and eat up because you'll need it," replied Naruto.

Sakura nodded in response and Hinata sulked. She wanted to come, but tomorrow she has a training session with her father and her sister.

"You want to come too, Hinata?" Naruto asked after noticing her mood went down.

"I-I'd like to, but I have a-a training session with m-my father and sister so I c-can't come. T-Thank you for o-offering me, N-Naruto-kun," answered the Hyuuga heiress.

"Oh, okay."

They then continued to eat their lunch until the lunch period was over.

X-0-X-0-X-0-X-0-X

The next day…

Sakura had finished her breakfast when someone knocked on her house's door. Her mother then opened it and Naruto was there, waiting for her.

"Sakura! Your boyfriend Naruto is here!" Yukari called, not missing a chance to tease her daughter.

"Mom! Naruto is just my friend! Not my boyfriend!" Sakura quickly replied while blushing hotly. Mentally, she added a 'yet' in the end of her line.

Yukari giggled while Naruto has the tendency to blush. The pink haired girl appeared in the doorway and greeted the blonde after making sure she had brought everything she needed.

"Good morning, Naruto-kun. Sorry about what my mother said earlier."

"It's okay, really. I know she was just teasing," replied Naruto with a small smile.

"Go along, you two. You don't want to be late for your training," said Yukari with a smile. "Please take care and train my daughter well, Naruto-kun."

"I will, Haruno-san," replied Naruto

"Please just call me Yukari. You don't need to be so formal with me," remarked the elder pink haired woman.

Naruto and Sakura bid farewell to Yukari and walked together to an unused training ground in the village. After fifteen minutes of walking, the pair arrived in the Training Ground number 15. From what Sakura saw, it was a large open ground with a pond in the middle of the clearing and a forest in one side. A small stream streaked from the forest to the pond and fences were placed around the training ground to define its border. Also, there were three log posts near the pond.

"Well here we are," said Naruto to Sakura. His expression turned into more serious one as he spoke to the pink haired girl. "Since what you really lacking is your physical endurance, today's training will be mainly focus on that by running around the training ground, push ups, and sit ups. Increasing your physical endurance will also increasing your chakra level. When we're done with that, we will have a taijutsu spar since you move like you're memorizing something. You should trust your instinct more than your mind in a fight. The last will be your Persona training. I'll train with you in each session."

Sakura nodded, not saying anything since Naruto looked so serious.

"Alright, we start with running around the training ground for 10 laps. Now let's get into it!"

It was only after 5 laps that Sakura already on her knees, gasping and panting for air. She cursed herself for neglecting her training resulting that she now had a crappy stamina—it's not like she started with a good deal of it anyway, but still it wasn't a good thing. In front of her Naruto was jogging lightly in his place. His face showed concern toward her.

"You okay, Sakura-chan? Want to take a break?"

"No…I still can…go on…" answered Sakura between her gasps. "If I…stop now…I'll never change…"

Her determination made Naruto smile. "Suit yourself then."

It was nearing the noon when Sakura finished with her physical training regime and now was resting for the next session, the taijutsu spar. She sprawled in the ground and totally drenched in sweat. She felt her entire muscle screaming in protest even if she wasn't moving it.

_'I'm totally out of shape…'_ she thought to herself.

She would thank Naruto for this. Even if it was really hard for her right now, she knew it would be really beneficial in the future. Looking at the said boy, he finished his break and walked to his backpack that he left lying against the log post and rummaged it. After he found something he was looking for, he walked toward Sakura and handed her a bottle.

"Drink this Sakura-chan, it will help you to recover your stamina."

Sakura sat up with Naruto helping her and drank the medicine in one go. It taste a bit bitter, but it was really refreshing. The sore on her muscles started to relieve and her stamina returned, even if only a little bit.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun," she said as she tried to stand up. "Shall we spar now?"

True to what Naruto had said earlier, Sakura's taijutsu wasn't so good since she was more relying on her memory. The result was very obvious against the blonde's style and the spar ended rather fast. Naruto then taught Sakura a variation of his taijutsu style, Uzu no Mai. He also gave Sakura a copy of the scroll he owned so she can learn it during her spare time while also reminding her that she should trust her instinct more. After having their lunch together, they continued on the Persona training.

"Alright, now we're into the Persona training," stated Naruto. "But first, let's learn a bit more about Persona. Every Persona divided into twenty-two Arcana that determine their characteristics such as the skill they learned as they grew. Since your Persona is the Priestess Arcana, she will mainly learn healing skills aside of the wind spells since it was her element. Every Persona also have elemental alignments which means they are resistant to a certain element, weak against it, totally null it, or even absorbs it. And now, let's talk about skills. Skills were divided into three types; Physical, Spells, and Passive Skills. Physical as it states, was a skill that attacks the enemy with physical attack. It divided again into three more types, which are slash, pierce, and strike. To activate the physical skill, it will cost you your stamina. Next, we learn about spells. Spell attack is actually more like a jutsu, but it cost your spiritual power instead of chakra to be used. Spells are divided into fire spells called Agi, ice spells called Bufu, wind spells called Garu, electricity spells called Zio, light spells called Hama, and darkness spells called Mudo. The first four are inflicting damage to your opponent, but the last two will instantly knock them out. Though, if strong enough, the first four will also knock out your opponent. There were also healing spells called Dia, buffing up spells that ended with '–kaja', de-buff spells that ended with '–kunda', and spells that could inflict poison or mental effects such as fear, panic, distressed, enraged, and charmed along with the spells that could heal those and awaken an unconscious person. The last one, passive skills are always active without any cost. They usually increase the power of your skills or make you resistant to a certain attack. You got it, Sakura-chan?"

It was a lengthy explanation, but she understood it. She then raised her hand to ask a question.

"Can you give me an example how to use a skill, Naruto-kun?"

"Sure, but you don't have to raise your hand Sakura-chan. This isn't a class," Naruto answered and Sakura blushed in embarrassment.

The blonde then made a blue tarot card appeared in his hand as he channeled his spiritual power into it before crushing it.

"Susano-o! Garula!"

The God of Storm appeared and threw his hand aside as a vortex of green wind shredded a tree nearby. Sakura watched in awe as Naruto dismissed his Persona and turned to her.

"To use a skill, you have to channel your stamina or spiritual power to your Persona before unleashing it. When you were getting more the hang on using skills, you can subconsciously channel them—mainly spells—into your weapon without summoning your Persona. However healing skills like Dia can be used without summoning your Persona," explained Naruto.

"Wow…it's amazing," said Sakura breathlessly.

"Now, it's your turn to try."

Nodding, Sakura subconsciously reached for her Persona while at the same time channeling her spiritual power. She then crushed the blue tarot card in her hand and summoned her Persona.

"Konohana-Sakuya!"

The embodiment of spring appeared and waved her fans, creating multiple wind vortex that shredded several trees nearby. She looked at Naruto who was looking at her with a smile and nodded his head.

"Very good, Sakura-chan. You summoned your Persona and channeled your spiritual power at the same time. It's not an easy task for someone who has just awakened their Persona recently. Usually, a Persona User will summon his or her Persona first before channeling the spiritual power or the stamina to use skills. You should proud of yourself."

Sakura was beaming with pride as he praised her like that, but she didn't let it go over her head because she knew she was just starting.

"Let's see how good you are when it comes to Persona battle. We will spar like earlier, but we can use our Persona. You're up for it?"

Sakura grinned in anticipation. "Of course, I'm ready."

Naruto grinned back at her. "Alright then, come at me with all you got!"

For the next two hours, Naruto and Sakura sparred using their ninja skills and their Persona. The spar ended when Sakura was tired and her legs were giving up.

"Sorry for burdening you, Naruto-kun," said Sakura.

"It's okay. You worked really hard today and made a good progress. You deserve this," assured Naruto.

They were on the way back to Sakura's house with Naruto piggybacking Sakura because she was tired. She was embarrassed and happy as she was able to get this close to Naruto. Snuggling a bit more, the pink haired girl sighed happily.

_'Naruto-kun is so warm…'_

Their walk was filled with chats about the training earlier, Naruto giving pointers and advices, as well as answering questions that Sakura asked. It was very pleasant to both of them. They then arrived at Haruno Household not a while later and Yukari giggled as she saw Naruto was giving Sakura a piggyback.

"Wow, I never thought that you two would move on so fast," she teased.

"Mom, please. I'm tired right now, so no more teasing," groaned Sakura. She then let go of Naruto—albeit reluctantly—and walked toward her door. She turned to Naruto and smiled at him. "Thank you for today, Naruto-kun. Can we train again tomorrow?"

"Sure we can. But remember to rest well, okay? I don't want you to collapse tomorrow," answered the blond.

The Haruno's giggled at that. "I'll remember that. Okay then, see you tomorrow Naruto-kun."

"See you tomorrow, Sakura-chan."

As the door slid close, Naruto walked away with a smile on his face. Today was definitely a good day.

X-0-X-0-X-0-X-0-X

**A/N: Chapter 3 done. Phew, it was a really hard to work on this one since my inspiration was drained thanks to three presentation tasks on this week. We meet Anko and have a bit of Hinata here. I actually planned to have Tenten appeared during the training part along with Naruto's mentor, but I'm saving it for the next chapter. No Compendium Corner for this chapter since no new Persona featured. The poll is still open and don't forget to add your vote for the girls in the harem. The top five girls will be included in the harem along with Sakura. So vote now! Also, please leave a review. I need suggestions and ideas from you readers. Thanks!**


	4. The Chariot and The Missing Lovers

Naruto: Thousand Soul Phrases  
I do not own anything related to Naruto or Persona series

Summary: The power of Persona awakened in the world of ninjas. Along with that, the wielder of Wild Card also has been chosen. What kind of destiny that awaits Naruto at the end of his 'Journey'? Naruto/Persona X-Over NaruSaku, possible NaruHarem, strong Naruto

Chapter 4: The Chariot and the Missing Lovers

One month has passed since Sakura and Naruto trained together for the first time. Since then, they would train together after school to refine her skills. It was tiring, but the pink haired was grateful for it. Now her stamina and chakra reserve has increased as well as her Persona's spiritual level. Now at level 18, Konohana-Sakuya learned the new healing skill called Media. Sakura met Tenten, a senior Kunoichi Genin and a Persona User as well, during the training and learned that the brunette was Naruto's friend from the orphanage until she was adopted. Tenten also joined them in their training when she wasn't busy with missions and training with her team, just like today.

Sakura dodged the horizontal naginata slash by Tenten's Persona, Tomoe Gozen. She retaliated by unleashing Magaru spell toward the weapon using Kunoichi and her Persona. Tenten didn't get to dodge all of them and was hit by one of the wind vortexes. Didn't missing a chance to attack, Sakura strode forward with her fist cocked, but the brunette recovered just in time to block Sakura's fist with her forearm. They then broke up and Tenten channeled her physical power to her Persona in preparation of an attack.

"Tomoe Gozen! Double Fangs!"

The female warrior Persona poised her naginata in skewering position and lunged forward as she pierced Sakura twice. The first pierce nicked the green eyed girl's shoulder, but the second pierce was blocked by Konohana-Sakuya's fan. Thanking her Persona mentally, Sakura then charged at Tenten and the amber eyed kunoichi intercepted her. The two girls were locked into taijutsu combat as their Personae were also having a battle of their own. Sakura tried to elbow her opponent in the gut, but Tenten caught it and retaliated with a right hook on Sakura's face. Sakura was hit and sent flying but quickly recovered in time to see Tenten along with Tomoe Gozen strode at her and channeled her spiritual power to her Persona. With a mental command, Konohana-Sakuya waved her fans and vortex of green wind appeared in Tenten's path. The older Kunoichi used a Kawarimi replace herself with a log to the safety. The pink haired girl looked around for her opponent, but stopped when she felt something poked the back of Konohana-Sakuya. She turned to see Tenten grinning and Tomoe Gozen poised her naginata on her Persona.

"Looks like I win, Sakura."

Sakura sighed dejectedly and relaxed her stance as she dismissed Konohana-Sakuya. "I lost again. Looks like I still have a long way to go."

Tenten walked to her and placed her hand on her shoulder, smiling at the pink haired girl. "Don't feel bad, there's always next time. Maybe if you train some more you can really defeat me next time."

Sakura smiled back in response. She then took a good look on Tenten's Persona, Tomoe Gozen. She wore navy full body suit with grey trimmings under sleek dark grey and black feminine samurai armor. Her face was covered by silver mask with cross shaped slit and her yellow eyes were seen through the slit. She has long black hair and she wields a naginata with copper shaft and gleaming silver edged blade as her weapon.

"So how was that, Naruto?" asked Tenten as she dismissed her Persona.

"You both did a great job. Sakura-chan made a good progress today, but maybe you shouldn't waste your spiritual power too much on your spells. That goes the same for you, Tenten-chan. You should be more conservative on using your skills since all of them were physical skills. You don't want to fall unconscious because using your skills too much, do you?" commented Naruto.

"Gee, I'm supposed to be a Genin but here I am being tutored by an academy student," said the brunette jokingly and the trio laughed at that.

"Come on, let's go to the Ichiraku. This call for a little celebration," said the blonde.

The three of them then left the training ground and walked toward the ramen stool while chatting about some things on their way there.

"Say Naruto, I just noticed this. Personae are based from the mythologies and legends, right? Like your Susano-o who was the God of storm from the Shinto mythology," stated Sakura.

"That's right. Not only from the Shinto mythology, Personae were also based from the myths and legends of other civilizations during the Ancient Age," answered Naruto.

"I wonder how the Ancient Age ended? There's no actual record about that except the Great Catastrophe," wondered Tenten.

"From what I learned during my trip in the Outer World, the Ancient Age was destroyed when Humans become too arrogant for their own good. They tried to become a God with their technology. Their act angered the God, so He decided to unleash Supernatural Forces to destroy the human and their arrogance. This event then known widely as the Great Catastrophe. It is said that Kyuubi was one of those Supernatural Forces," explained Naruto, grimacing on the last part.

"What?" asked the two girls in unison.

"It's true. Kyuubi was the part of God's instrument to destroy the previous world. They then stayed in the mortal plane to act as the one who keep the balance of the world ever since the Great Catastrophe. However as the time goes on, their presence misinterpreted by humans as demons."

"I never knew of that," said Sakura in awe. "But what makes Kyuubi attacked the village fourteen years ago then?"

"That's…I don't know," answered Naruto uncertainly. He also wanted to know why his tenant attacked the village, but he never got the straight answer.

Sakura was about to say something when she noticed someone. "Hey, isn't that Ino's father?"

Both Naruto and Tenten shifted their attention to the elder Yamanaka. His face showed concern and worry as he was looking around, searching around for someone. He then spotted Sakura and walked toward the trio.

"Hello, Sakura. Have you seen my daughter around?"

"No sir, I haven't. Is something wrong with Ino-chan?"

Inoichi sighed and answered grimly. "Ino was missing since this morning."

"What?" said Sakura in surprise. "H-How that could happen?"

"I don't know. When my wife went to her room to wake her up, she's already missing"

"Have you looked around to the place she used to hang around, Yamanaka-san?" asked Tenten.

"I have and I can't find her anywhere," Inoichi's face grew solemn. "I don't recall that she has to do something today aside of working on the flower shop."

"Ino-chan…" Sakura didn't want to assume the worst could happen, but she couldn't help but worried with her best friend.

Naruto had the suspicion, but he still needed to ask something to his friend's father. "Yamanaka-san, did you notice something different with Ino yesterday or last night? Like she was hearing voices or sometimes staring at nothing…"

Inoichi went to thinking for a while before he answered the younger blonde. "Come to think it, yes, she was acting a bit strange yesterday. She said that she heard some eerie voice and she sometimes would stare at the wall blankly."

"Just as I thought," Naruto narrowed his eyes in reply. He then turned to Sakura and Tenten. "I want both of you to go home and fully geared yourself. Since Sakura-chan is still an academy student, you should borrow Tenten's weapon like some REAL kunai and shuriken."

"What's wrong, Naruto-kun? Do you know where Ino-chan is?" asked Sakura.

"Yeah, I know and it's not in the place I'd like to go either," answered the blond with a grim expression.

"What do you mean, Naruto? Is the place where my daughter might be a dangerous place?" Inoichi didn't like Naruto's expression regarding the place where his daughter could be.

"The place where Ino-chan is right now is very dangerous and no one could ever survived there except for Persona Users. Do not worry Yamanaka-san, we will save Ino-chan," assured Naruto firmly.

Inoichi looked at Naruto for a while before he placed his hands on the younger blond's shoulder.

"I entrust you with my daughter's safety. Please save my little princess."

"I will Inoichi-san."

The Yamanaka clan head left and Naruto turned to Sakura and Tenten. "I know both of you still have some questions you wanted ask me, but for now Ino-chan's safety comes first. After both of you geared up, meet me on the foot of the Hokage Mountain in one hour."

He then left rather hurriedly while the two girls were still baffled with Naruto's sudden change of attitude.

"What made him so serious? I've never seen him like that aside the time he fought with Sasuke," said Sakura.

"I don't know, but we better follow what he said," replied Tenten. "Meet me in my apartment in half hour to pick up the weapons, 'kay?"

Sakura nodded and the two girls then parted way.

X-0-X-0-X-0-X-0-X

Precisely one hour later, Sakura and Tenten arrived on the foot of the Hokage Monument where Naruto was already there with someone else. Neither of the girls recognized the person. The person was a woman in her early twenties with black hair that tied into spiky ponytail with two side bangs and sapphire blue eyes—like Naruto's. She was wearing green flak vest that usually wore by Chuunin and Jounin over a sleeveles black turtleneck top and ANBU styled pants. Her hitai-ate was tied securely on her left bicep.

"We're here, Naruto-kun. Can you tell us why you had us geared up like this?" asked Sakura.

"I will be explaining that to you," answered the black haired woman. "But maybe I should introduce myself first. My name is Kazeyuki Setsuna, a Jounin and Naruto's mentor as well."

"So you are Naruto-kun's mentor," replied Sakura. "You're also a Persona User?"

"That's right," Setsuna smiled in response before her expression turned serious. "Naruto had told me what happened. Your friend Ino has lost in another dimension called Alter Realm."

"Lost in another dimension? How is that possible?" asked a surprised Tenten.

"She was called there by a Shadow, the resident of the Alter Realm," answered the Jounin. "Normally, no one can enter the Alter Realm save for Persona Users. However, there will be times that normal people will be called by Shadows and ended up there."

"What will happen when someone got lost on the Alter Realm?" asked Sakura.

"If we're too late to save that person, than she will be as good as dead," answered Setsuna and Sakura gasped. "But don't worry, we can save her with your Persona."

"Normally Shadows are invulnerable against any normal means, but a Persona User can fight them equally and eventually defeat them. Besides, defeating Shadows can level up your Persona much more quickly. You can use it as training while we're saving Ino-chan on the way," explained Naruto continuing for his mentor. He then handed Sakura and Tenten each of them waist bags. "There are medicines and other useful stuffs inside these bags. You better take it with you because you'll need it during our mission."

The girls took the waist bag and strapped on their waist.

"Alright, let's get going. The more time we spend here, the less time we have to save your friend," said Setsuna. She then pointed to a black and red orb that Sakura and Tenten didn't know was there. "That's the entrance to the Alter Realm. It is only a one-way entrance and we will have to find exit if we want to get out."

"Are you ready to go?" asked Naruto.

"Let's go, Naruto-kun. We will save Ino-chan," answered Sakura with determination filling her eyes.

They then walked to the orb and surprised when it changed to a kind of door made purely by darkness, shrouded in red and black wisps. (**A/N: Imagine the Corridor of Darkness from Kingdom Hearts, only it was red and black instead of black and purple**). Naruto and Setsuna walked in first followed by Sakura and Tenten.

When they passed the red and black door, they found themselves in a place that looked like a twisted version of Konoha—or the world even. The sky was blood red instead of the usual blue and there was something like a moon on the sky, in half moon phase, also glowing in red light. There were blood-like substances oozing on the ground and mountain walls. The trees there were dead and had no leaves. All in all, the Alter Realm had 'death' written in all over its atmosphere.

"Welcome to the Alter Realm," said Naruto.

"This is the Alter Realm?" Tenten commented. "It looks so…dead."

"How come this place comes to exist?" Sakura asked.

"A theory said that this place comes to existence when the first Persona User awakened and then spreads out as more Persona Users awakened. But no one knows the truth and only a small number of Persona Users realized that this place exists at all," answered Setsuna.

"We should look for Ino-chan now," said Naruto as he looked at the half moon on the sky. "We don't have much time. Onee-chan, if you would."

Setsuna nodded and summoned her Persona card before crushing it, "Aid me, Tsukuyomi."

From the blue energy surge around the black haired Jounin, a Persona appeared. It was a woman with long silver hair and blue skin. She was wearing black kimono with dark blue obi and a gold head decoration with full moon and crescent moon symbol hanging by red tassels. Her face was decorated with white face paints and had serene expression.

Setsuna closed her eyes and focused her mind as she searched for Ino. Even though her Persona was more combat-based, Tsukuyomi also has the ability to search and scan albeit limited.

"What is she doing?" asked Tenten.

"She's searching for Ino-chan. Onee-chan's Persona is able to search for people and analyzing Shadows even though it was more combat-based Persona. You better not disturb her," answered Naruto.

"Wait, Onee-chan?" inquired Sakura.

"Yeah, to me she is the big sister that I never have before," answered the blonde with a smile.

"I found her," said Setsuna suddenly. "She is on the flower meadow in the west."

"The flower meadow…that's where me and Ino-chan used to play together!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Alright let's go. We'll use the road to get there while facing Shadows on the way," said Naruto, making Sakura and Tenten looked at him. "Just in case we will face a strong Shadow when we meet Ino-chan, we should prepare ourselves. Don't worry, the medicines in your waist bag are suffice for this journey."

"I'll follow you close by and perform the supporting role. Just ask me whenever you need to analyze your enemy," added Setsuna.

The group then walked toward the streets of Konoha. To Sakura and Tenten, it was eerie to see their village which usually was very lively became so deserted like this—not to mention that bloods were everywhere. They keep on walking until they met something that only could be described as weird and scary. It was a large black blob with red eyes and hands crawling on the ground. It then noticed the humans and suddenly dispersed into four other beings. Two of them were crawling black blob with hands and purple mask on its 'head'. The other two were like heads without body but complete with hairs and tiara along with magenta mask.

"What are those things?" asked Tenten as unsealed a Bo staff quickly.

"Shadows," hissed Naruto as he also drew a Kunai. "Spread out! Don't let those creeps got you!"

One of the masked blobs raised both of its hands as a small thunderbolt struck where Naruto was, only to have the blonde rolled aside and countering by summoning his Persona.

"Susano-o! Garula!"

The storm God waved his free hand and violent wind vortex ripped the Shadow apart and killed it instantly. Naruto then threw his kunai at the Tiara-species Shadow and the metal weapon struck right on its mask, causing it to shriek in pain. Not wasting any time the blond channeled his physical power to his Persona for the next attack.

"Fatal End!"

Susano-o dashed forward to the stunned Shadow and when it only two arms length from its target, he brought his sword overhead and swung down fast cleaving the Tiara-species in two. As he finished with his opponents, Naruto looked at Sakura and Tenten to see how they were faring.

This was the first time for the two girls fighting against Shadows so they were really cautious. Sakura firmly held her as she eyeing the Shadows in front of her. She didn't know what this thing could do. But suddenly an information about the Shadows she was fighting against popped in her head such as its name, Arcana, and its elemental alignments. She glanced at Setsuna who nodded at her and Sakura nodded back. It seems Tenten also got the same thing as her and with silent agreement, the two girls charged at their targets.

Sakura slashed with a kunai on her hand at the Tiara-species, but the floating hair dodged her attack. Sakura then quickly followed with a reverse-roundhouse kick that hit her intended target. The pink haired girl dodged just in time when chunk of ice appeared in where she was a second ago. She then willed her Persona card to appear and slashed it with her kunai after she channeled her spiritual power into it.

"Konohana-Sakuya! Garu!"

The vortex wind shredded the Shadow and disorienting it for a while. Not letting her chance to slip away, Sakura quickly approached her target and slashed at the mask. The Shadow shrieked before burst into black ichors.

"Euh…Disgusting…" Sakura commented as she looked at the remains of the Shadow.

Tenten was having a better time against the Shadow thanks to her experience as an active Genin. She smashed her staff at the Shadow right on the mask before whacked it aside sending the Shadow stumbling. As the weapon mistress strode forward, the Maya-species recovered quickly and sent a zap of electricity that hit her. Tenten let out a pained yelp and fell to the ground. She tried to stand up, but her body couldn't move. The Shadow then charged at her with its claw ready to rip her. The brunette closed her eyes and braced herself for the pain. Seconds later, a cry of pain was heard at the same time with wind shredding something. Tenten opened her eyes and she was surprise to see she was alright and the Shadow she faced was now nothing but pool of black ichor.

"Tenten-san, are you okay?" asked Sakura as she approached her senior with her Persona close by.

"I'm fine," the brunette replied as she accepted Sakura's hand to stand up. She winced as she felt pain after the attack hit her.

"Let me heal you," said Sakura as she saw Tenten wincing.

Konohana-Sakuya waved her fan and blue light surrounded the elder Genin. Tenten felt warmth as her pain lessened and her wounds healed.

"Thanks, Sakura. I owe you one."

"Don't mention it, Tenten-san."

"So, how was your first time against a Shadow?" asked Naruto as he approached the girls.

"I got careless on my first try. It was all thanks to Sakura here for the save," admitted Tenten.

"I'm not so sure at the first time, but I think I'll manage to it," said Sakura. "By the way, thanks for the information about the enemy earlier, Setsuna-san."

"Don't mention it. It was my job to support you three on this mission," replied the Jounin with a smile.

"Alright we'll continue on toward the flower meadow with fighting some Shadows on the way. Don't hesitate to take the medicines on the waist bag if necessary," Naruto ordered and his two friends acknowledged.

They trekked on the roads of Alter Konoha as the made their way to the flower meadow. On their way there, they encountered several Shadows and they dispatched them quickly. To Sakura and Tenten, it was a new experience to them. They carefully worked on the Shadows with Naruto at times lending a hand to them by using his buffing and de-buffing spells and Setsuna provided information about the Shadows to them—it was faster since she had come here several times with Naruto to train him.

It was when they near the meadow they encountered a Shadow that was different from anything that they encountered so far. Unlike other Shadows, this Shadow was already on its battle form instead of the black crawling blob. From Naruto's experience, it was a the Mage-species Shadow. Instead of the usual Hanged Man mask, it sports the Hierophant Arcana mask. The robe it wore also seemed to glitter a bit.

"Careful girls, I never encountered a Shadow like this before," Naruto warned.

"Do you think this Shadow is the one who called Ino-chan here?" asked Sakura.

"We'll find out soon enough," responded Tenten as she prepared her bo staff.

The Shadow roared and it unleashed Mabufula spell toward the party, which they swiftly dodged the ice spikes.

"Onee-chan! Scan it now!"

"On it!"

Naruto lunged forward with a kunai in his hand and tried to slash the Shadow. But the Shadow blocked the weapon by spinning its body, causing the sharp tattered end of the cloak to flutter. The blonde Jinchuuriki leapt backward and growled when his attack was parried. Sensing his party member prepared for an attack, the blond rolled aside as Tenten had her Persona to attack.

"Tomoe Gozen! Gale Slash!"

The legendary female samurai Persona swung her Naginata, causing winds to pick up and slashed at the Mage-species Shadow. But to her surprise, the attack only fazed the Shadow a bit before it quickly recovered.

"No way!" shouted Tenten in surprise.

"Then how about this! Konohana-Sakuya, Garu!" bellowed Sakura as she summoned her Persona.

The wind vortex surrounded the Shadow, but to their surprise the attack didn't have any effect to it.

"Our attack isn't working! Just how strong this thing is?"

"Onee-chan! How's the scan going?" Naruto called out to Setsuna.

"I'm done! That Shadow is called Divine Mage. It resists all physical attack and nulls all magic attacks, except for darkness!" reported Setsuna.

"Just great, what should we do now?" groaned Tenten.

"Leave it to me!" replied Naruto as he summoned his Persona card and slashed it. "Pale Rider! Mudoon!"

From the blue energy surrounding the blonde, another figure appeared instead of the usual Susano-o. It was a black robed skeleton wielding a scythe—not unlike a grim reaper and riding a pale colored horse. Sakura and Tenten were obviously surprised to see Naruto summoned a Persona another than Susano-o and intimidated by its appearance.

The fourth horseman of apocalypse cackled as it raised his scythe horizontally with both of his hands. A seal appeared on the ground where the Divine Mage stood and the Shadow trashed around before engulfed in black flames, killing it instantly.

"Well, that's that," Naruto sighed as he dismissed Pale Rider.

"How did you summon another Persona than your Susano-o?" Sakura asked.

"I'm a unique Persona User called Wild Card. I can summon other Personae than my main Persona," explained Naruto. "With my ability, I can adapt with various enemies in battle."

"That's pretty useful," Tenten commented.

"Why did you never tell us about that?" asked Sakura.

"You never asked about it," answered Naruto with a shrug.

"We're almost at the meadow. Just a little bit more and we will find your friend," said Setsuna and the party nodded.

They walked a bit more and they arrived at the flower meadow. There, they found Ino standing in the middle of the meadow with…another Ino? The doppelganger looked like the real one, only she has yellow eyes instead of Ino's baby blue. The whole party was definitely surprised to see this phenomenon.

"Ino-chan!" Sakura called out.

The real Ino turned around to see her best friend along with her crush and two other people she didn't recognize.

"Sakura-chan! Naruto-kun!"

**"Well, well, what do we have here? The forehead freak,"** said the doppelganger Ino with a sneer.

"Don't you dare to call my friend like that, you imposter!" Ino hissed.

**"Friend? Ha! Don't make me laugh. You never thought Sakura as a friend."**

Sakura stopped in her track and looked at the two blondes confusedly. "Huh?"

**"That girl with weird pink hair and huge forehead is an annoyance. She always clinging to you like a lost puppy and always cry because someone teased her. You do know how sick you were with it, don't you? You just stuck around with her just because it's fun to see other kids picking on her until you get bored and played the heroine role. And she thought you always saved her because you were her friend…how wrong she is…You just loved the attention,"** explained the Ino look-alike with a sinister smile.

"Don't listen to her, Sakura-chan! She's lying!" said Ino frantically.

Sakura was at lost when she heard what the doppelganger said to her.

**"And then she decided to break the so called friendship to seek Sasuke's attention…You were glad with it because you finally free from that pain in the ass of a girl. But you were also angry at her because that's the way she thanked you for the whole confidence boosting issue…that ungrateful little wrench…Just who the hell does she think she is? Without you, she'll probably turn like that stuttering girl Hinata,"** stated the other Ino with a scowl.

"Stop it! That's not true! I never happy that Sakura broke our friendship years ago and never will! I was sad because I lost my best friend!" yelled Ino, frustration evident in her tone.

The yellow eyed doppelganger ignored her and continued on her rant. **"Then that pink haired sissy came to you and apologized to you and asked to be your friend again…what a joke. Does she think you really have forgiven her? You don't, right?"**

"SHUT UP! Who are you? And why did you mess with my head?"

**"Don't you get it? Talk about being an airheaded blond…"** muttered the doppelganger under her breath.** "I am you and those things I said earlier are what you really feel toward that hussy over there. You can't escape forever from your real self,"** The other Ino smiled evilly at the real one. **"So why don't you just accept it?"**

Ino panicked at this point. "No…You can't be me…You can't be…" she took a step backward shakily. "You're not me!"

Then suddenly the other Ino laughed evilly as black and red mist started to gather around her, causing the party to raise their alert to the maximum.

"Be careful kids! I sense a large energy reaction massing on that look-alike of your friend!" warned Setsuna.

**"Ahahahahahaha….! That's right! I'm not you…not anymore…With this I can finally become my own self!"**

The black and red mist completely engulfed the doppelganger and the real Ino fell unconscious to the ground.

"Ino-chan!" shouted Sakura in worry.

As the black and red mist dispersed, the other Ino has changed into something else. It was a large female humanoid figure of an adult looking Ino—three times of a normal human. She had black skin that barely covered with proper clothes, only green silk ribbons wrapped around her lower arms, breasts and waist below until the mid of her thighs. Her face was covered with white opera mask. She was kneeling seductively in front of the party with her legs parted.

**"I am a Shadow. The true self," **the now revealed Shadow Ino spoke with distorted voice. **"I'm going to wipe that forehead girl from the existence and have fun with that cute whiskered blonde with gorgeous eyes over there all by myself."**

"Uh, is she just threatened Sakura and flirted with you Naruto?" wondered Tenten.

"I think so," replied Naruto uncertainly before turning to Setsuna. "Onee-chan, the scan please?"

**"Why did you not paying attention to me? It can cost you, you know?"** Shadow Ino giggled as she raised her right hand. **"Jealousy Thunder!"**

Massive bolts of electricity zapped down from the sky toward Naruto and his companions—including Setsuna causing her concentration broke. They all dodged the attack and strode forward toward the large Shadow as Naruto casted Masukukaja to Sakura and Tenten to boost their speed. Sakura then channeled her spiritual power as she prepared for an attack.

"Take this! Garu!"

The wind vortex shredded the Shadow, but the damage was not significant. Shadow Ino recovered and glaring at Sakura.

**"That hurt, you bitch! I'm really sick of you!"**

Shadow Ino threw her arm forward, causing the green ribbon wrapped around the limb extended and nearly cut Sakura in two if she didn't rolled aside. The Shadow unleashed another ribbon and another one, but the rosette dodged all of them with ease thanks to Naruto's buffing up spell.

**"Stand still! Don't move too much so I can hit you!"** Shadow Ino growled.

"What's wrong piggy? Can't hit me because you're too slow to move?" taunted Sakura.

**"Die, you forehead freak!"** Shadow Ino snarled and her attacks became more erratic.

Sakura smirked as she dodged the ribbons. Shadow or not, it was still Ino. She then unleashed another Garu spell toward the Shadow which homed right in causing Shadow Ino to cry in pain. Naruto and Tenten had their Persona summoned and preparing themselves for an attack.

"Susano-o! Fatal End!"

"Tomoe Gozen! Double Fangs!"

The emerald robed Persona slashed Shadow Ino on the same time as the navy and grey Persona stabbed her twice.

**"Argh! Why you…! That's it! Envious Strike!"**

Shadow Ino stabbed the ground with her ribbon and suddenly numerous other ribbons rose from the ground and struck at Naruto and the others. They managed to dodge some of them, but several other ribbons managed to cut them in several parts of their body.

"Are you alright?" asked Naruto with a grunt.

"Never been better," answered Tenten sarcastically.

"How are we going to beat her?" asked Sakura as she healed her cut wounds.

"I've found her weakness! She weak against ice!" informed Setsuna.

"Got it, Onee-chan!" Naruto then turned to Sakura and Tenten. "I've got a plan. Can you two distract her for a bit?"

"Sure," answered Sakura.

"Got it," answered Tenten.

**"Hey, what did I told you about not paying your attention to me? Jealousy Thunder!"**

Naruto and his party dodged the thunderbolts while Tenten and Sakura strode forward to Shadow Ino. The Shadow lashed out with her ribbon which the two girls swiftly dodged them. They looked at each other and nodded as they prepared for a joint attack.

"Konohana-Sakuya! Garu!"

"Tomoe-Gozen! Gale Slash!"

The Goddess of Spring waved her fans on the same time as the legendary female Samurai swung her naginata. The timing caused the wind spell to increase the power of the slash skills as the attack hit Shadow Ino.

**"Graaargh! All of you were so dead! Envious Strike!"**

As ribbons started to rise from the ground, it was what Naruto has been waiting for.

"Now! Black Frost! Mabufula!"

From the blue energy surge around Naruto, a new Persona appeared. It was a black skinned demon with blue cap, blue sun-like collar, blue boots and angry red eyes. The demon turned fairy back flipped and flapped his hands as several medium sized ice spikes covered the ribbons and Shadow Ino. The ice shattered causing the ribbons to shatter and Shadow Ino fell to the ground with a cry of pain.

" Now's our chance! Let's get her!" said Tenten.

"Let's get wild!" Naruto grinned.

"You're going down! Shannaro!" yelled Sakura.

Shadow Ino could only look in horror as the two ninja-in-training and a fully fledged Kunoichi charged at her with their weapon of choice ready in their hands.

**"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"**

Her scream was heard along with the sound of metal digging flesh, flesh beating flesh, and reinforced wood beating flesh. Seconds later, Naruto and his party members looked down on the fallen and beaten form of Shadow Ino before the Shadow dispersed into black ichors. Sakura then ran to the unconscious real Ino with Naruto and Tenten followed close by and cradled her.

"Ino-chan! Are you okay?" Sakura called out to her unconscious friend.

The pale blonde's eyes fluttered before she regained her consciousness. "…S-Sakura-chan?"

The pink haired girl then hugged her best friend and sobbed lightly. "Thank god…You're alright…"

"Sakura-chan…I…" Ino wheezed out weakly.

"It's alright, Ino-chan. She's gone and she won't bother you again," said Sakura admonishingly.

"I don't think so, Sakura-chan," replied Naruto as he looked over his shoulder.

They all turned around to see Shadow Ino in her doppelganger form standing in the place where she was defeated previously. The real Ino tensed when she saw the Shadow.

"No…you're not…"

"Accept her, Ino-chan," said Naruto, causing everyone save for Setsuna looked at her. "She is a part of you and if you reject her, she will go berserk again."

Ino looked at her own Shadow who was looking blankly back at her. She was unsure for what to do next. Seeing her best friend lost, Sakura decided to help her.

"You know Ino-chan. You aren't the only one who wasn't happy inside when we become friends ago."

"Huh?" the pale blond looked at the rosette confusedly.

"I feel overshadowed by you back then when we're kids. You're all everything that I wanted to be. So beautiful and brave. When I broke our friendship, I was actually happy because I was free from your shadow," admitted Sakura. "I realized that those feelings were always there and I didn't deny them at all. I won't hate you because you have those feelings to me because I know I was weak and very dependent of you."

"Sakura-chan…"

"I'm grateful to have you as a friend. Without you, I won't be become what I am today." Sakura then hugged Ino and the blonde girl hugged her back while crying after some moments of silence.

"Arigatou, Sakura-chan," said the blonde back at her rosette best friend with a smile while wiping off her tears.

She then stood up with Sakura helping her and walked toward her Shadow.

"You know, it was really embarrassing to let people knew about my secret feeling like that," said Ino to her Shadow who was listening to her silently. "All of those were true. I was annoyed with Sakura back then, but it's all because I was jealous to her, even until now. She had her own unique charm that made her so beautiful when she grew up. That jealousy flared up even more when she had a boy who openly crushing at her," she then glanced at Naruto who was rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, and Sakura who was caught off guard but she smiled nonetheless. "I wish that I have someone like him. Sakura-chan was right, those feelings were always there and I can't keep them hidden forever. You are me and I am you, is that what you want to say?"

The Shadow smiled softly and nodded as a familiar blue energy surrounded her and her body transmogrified into a Persona. She has dark blue skin that wrapped in light blue kimono that stopped in her mid thighs with purple obi. She has bell sleeves and open toed boots that also in the same color of her kimono. She also has waist length platinum hair and green ribbon that tied in her upper arms looping on her back with both ends grasped by her hands. Her face was covered with white porcelain mask.

**_"Thou art I and I am thou…From the sea of thy soul, I have cometh…I am Ame-no-Uzume, the one who invites the Sun."_**

Ino took a good look on her Persona and smiled. Ame-no-Uzume then disappeared into particle of lights before reappearing in the blonde's hand as a Persona Card. Ino then felt a hand on her shoulder and saw Sakura smiled at her.

"Let's go home. Your father is very worried with you," she said and Ino nodded.

"But how are we going to go back to Konoha?" asked Tenten.

"I think that's not a problem," Setsuna answered as she pointed on a red and black orb similar to the one they used to enter the Alter Realm.

"Talk about being convenient," muttered Naruto.

The party then left the Alter Realm shortly after that.

X-0-X-0-X-0-X-0-X

The next day…

Class 302 was like always today. The students were already on their seat waiting for their sensei. All of them, save for…

"Out of the way, piggy! Naruto-kun is going to sit with me because he is crushing on me first!"

"No you don't, forehead! You're not going to hog him all by yourself! You already spent a lot of time with him, so why don't you let me have the share?"

"Over my body, pig!"

"Forehead!"

"Blondie!"

"Pinky!"

"Flat chest!"

"Cow!"

The reason why Sakura and Ino having a verbal fight after they reconciled? Earlier today, Ino admitted to Sakura that she also has feelings toward Naruto after her rescue. She saw what happened during the fight with her Shadow via the Shadow's point of view and she also had heard what her Shadow said before the fight. She saw how strong Naruto really was and she couldn't help but fall in love with the whiskered blond. Learning from their mistake on the past, Sakura and Ino kept their friendship while also at the same time becoming rivals for the whiskered blonde's affection.

Meanwhile, Naruto with his headphones on his ears were looking at them and smiled. They maybe didn't realize it yet, but their bond was stronger than ever since the yesterday's event. He put his hands on the back of his head and closed his eyes as he waited for Iruka-sensei.

X-0-X-0-X-0-X-0-X

**A/N: Alright, chapter 4 the longest to the date is done. It's up late thanks to my research and the lack of review from the last chapter. I'm happy with those who put this story on their alert/favorite list, but I even more appreciate them who reviewed. Maybe I should put this into the crossover section instead. Anyway, I took my sweet time for writing this chapter cause I enjoyed it so much—as fun as writing chapter 2. From the Alter Realm concept to the battle with Shadow Ino…I enjoyed it so much. I also like to comment of the appearance of Naruto's new Personae. From all of Death Arcana Persona, I like Pale Rider next to Thanatos. I always liked the concept of death god/grim reaper and I already planned Kyuubi for being a Persona of Death Arcana. The next one is about Black Frost. I actually planned for using Jack Frost, but I scrapped that idea since Jack Frost is a lower tier Persona and I will not using the King Frost, since he is almost useless. Maybe he will appear as a demon later on, hee-ho. And about Tsukuyomi being a female Persona, I don't really see the problem since Atlus made Orpheus into a female Persona in P3P (Tsukuyomi is a god in Shinto Mythology). Please leave a Review because I need to hear your comment on this chapter, anything about it. And don't forget to vote on the poll, it is still open to you all who didn't voted yet. Until the next chapter, farewell for now.**

_Compendium Corner_

Name: Tomoe Gozen  
Arcana: Chariot  
Spiritual Level: 23  
Elemental Alignments: Pierce (Resist), Electricity (Weak)  
Skills: Gale Slash, Double Fangs, Kill Rush, Tarukaja, Invigorate 1  
Compendium Info: A famous female Samurai during the Genpei War. After the battle of Awazu, it is unclear what happened to her since many sources stated differently to one another. She could be described as a legend because so many stories of her life and the lack of the proof of her existence. It is said that she is highly skilled with naginata.

Name: Tsukuyomi  
Arcana: Moon  
Spiritual Level: 55  
Elemental Alignments: Ice (Null), Darkness (Resist), Fire (Weak)  
Skills: Bufudyne, Mabufula, Hamaon, Invigorate 2, Ice boost, Matarunda, Marakukaja, Analyze  
Compendium Info: One of the three Deities that born after Izanagi's attempt to retrieve Izanami from Yomi, along with Amaterasu and Susano-o. Known as the God of the moon, he killed the goddess of food Uke-Mochi after disgusted by how her created rice field. His act made Amaterasu hates him, causing the sun and the moon to never meet in the same time.

Name: Pale Rider  
Arcana: Death  
Spiritual Level: 38  
Elemental Alignments: Darkness (Null), Light (Weak)  
Skills: Mamudo, Mudoon, Garula, Zan-ei, Counter, Survive Light  
Compendium Info: One of the four horsemen of apocalypse and the last one to appear. Depicted as a scythe wielding black robed skull riding on a pale horse, he said to be the one who symbolizes death and has the power to destroy lives.

Name: Black Frost  
Arcana: Fool  
Spiritual Level: 42  
Elemental Alignments: Ice (Null), Fire (Resist), Darkness (Resist), Light (Weak)  
Skills: Agidyne, Mabufula, Mamudo, Matarukaja, Marakunda, Fire Boost, Ice Boost  
Compendium Info: A demon that born after the fairy of ice Jack Frost remembered its nature as a demon. A master of ice, fire, and darkness, he is a strong demon that shouldn't be trifled with.

Name: Ame-no-Uzume  
Arcana: Lovers  
Spiritual Level:18  
Elemental Alignments: Electricity (Resist), Ice (Weak)  
Skills: Zio, Dia, Pulinpa, Marin Karin, Mazio  
Compendium Info: The goddess of dawn from Shinto mythology. She is known as the one who managed to lure out Amaterasu from the cave of Amano Iwato with her provocative dance. She is later also known as the goddess of entertainment and governs many sacred dances.


	5. Graduation, Missing Scroll, and Demons

Naruto: Thousand Soul Phrases  
I do not own anything related to Naruto or Persona series

Summary: The power of Persona awakened in the world of ninjas. Along with that, the wielder of Wild Card also has been chosen. What kind of destiny that awaits Naruto at the end of his 'Journey'? Naruto/Persona X-Over NaruSaku, possible NaruHarem, strong Naruto

Chapter 5: The Graduation, the Missing Scroll, and Demons

Today was a big day for the students of Konoha Shinobi Academy. Why? Because today was the Genin Examination day. The students have studied and trained a lot for today so they were confident that they will pass the exam with flying colors—though, there were some students were nervous whether they will pass the exam or not. The class 302 was already filled with students that will participate on the exam today and Naruto was among them. Being away from Konoha for four years and learned so many things from his training trip, the Wild Card wasn't worried about the test at all. Rather than worrying about the test, he was thinking about what happened lately.

Since rescuing Ino from the Alter Realm two weeks ago, the blonde girl joined Naruto and Sakura on their training session. Despite at first she was wussing about it, Ino became more serious after she was defeated by Sakura on the sparring session—taijutsu and Persona battle. Thanks to the battle on the Alter Realm during Ino's rescue, now Konohana-Sakuya was on level 21, and her Garu skill has been upgraded to Garula. Naruto's Susano-o also had his level increased to level 46 and he got an upgrade for his Garula skill, which was Garudyne. Ino had asked Naruto to go to the Alter Realm once again, but he refused saying that without his Setsuna-neechan he didn't dare to enter that place since the Jounin was out for a mission. Besides, fighting Shadows without support of an analyzer was totally reckless. Other than the trainings, he also was hanging out with Sakura and Ino on his free time. He enjoyed their company while the two girls also enjoyed his presence and sometimes they would fight over his attention. He didn't mind that though, it was their way to show their affection to each other.

Naruto was brought out from his musings when he heard someone familiar calling out to him.

"Good morning, Naruto-kun," greeted Sakura as she walked to his seat.

"Good, Sakura-chan," Naruto greeted back. "Where is Ino-chan? I thought you came here together."

"It seems Ino-chan is overslept thanks to her pulling an all-nighter for today," answered Sakura as she took a seat on an empty seat next to her crush. "How about you, Naruto-kun? Are you ready for the exam?"

"You don't need to ask. I'm always ready," said the blonde confidently with a grin.

The rosette smiled in response. She too was ready for the exam today thanks to her study and training. She was confident that she will pass the exam with little to none problem.

The door slid open revealing Ino whom looked hurried. She looked around the class and noticed Iruka-sensei not arrived yet, she sighed and her shoulders slumped in relief. She noticed Naruto and walked to his seat.

"Good morning, Naruto-kun! Are you ready for the exam?" Ino asked with a bright smile.

"Yeah, more than anything," answered Naruto. "How about you, Ino-chan?"

"You better not fell asleep during the exam because you pulled an all-nighter, Ino-chan" said Sakura teasingly.

Ino only smirked confidently to her rival/best friend. "Don't worry about me, Sakura-chan. After all there's no way I'm going to lose to you."

Sakura smirked back at her while Naruto shook his head and smiled. Ino then walked to an empty seat behind Naruto's and the three friends started to chat with each other. Unknown to them, a pair of pale eyes looked at them with jealousy evident and another pair of coal black eyes looked at them with anger.

Ever since Naruto beaten him in the fight more than month ago, he became bitter toward the blonde. He always sought a way to fight with Naruto once again. Taunting him, belittling him…but everything was a failure. He once tailed Naruto and Sakura on their training session and shocked beyond belief when he learned that Sakura was also a Persona User. He was even shocked furthermore when he heard that Sakura's Persona was much stronger than Kagutsuchi. He was furious beyond belief at that. Then he also heard that Ino was another Persona user and her Persona was also stronger than his. Ever since then, he trained himself hard so that he would surpass them. He was so sure that now he was stronger than they were.

_'Just you wait, you losers. I'm going to show you that I'm better than any of you.'_

Sadly, he even didn't know what the so called losers' Personas were capable of.

Iruka the entered the class not long after that and proceeded to do the usual routine of shutting up the class and taking the absent roll.

"Alright class, listen up," Iruka called to the students. "Today is the day you take the exam that will make you a Genin or not. This exam will be split into two parts which are the written test and the ninjutsu test. First we will have the written the test. I will distribute the sheets to you and do not flip them up until I said so."

The scarred chuunin then distributed the test sheets to the students and returned to his place in front of the class.

"You have sixty minutes to work on your test. You may flip the test sheet now and good luck to all of you."

The students flipped the papers and began to work on their tests. Naruto worked on his test one question to another with ease. Thanks to his training trip, he already had several years of academic study under his belt up to even Jounin level knowledge.

Fifteen minutes before the test ended, Naruto put his pencil down as he finished with his test. Glancing to his side, he saw Sakura had finished with her test at the same time as him. The pink haired girl noticed his glance and mouthed a question to him.

_'Are you done already, Naruto-kun?'_

_'Yeah, nothing's too hard,'_ Naruto mouthed back at her.

Satisfied with his answer, Sakura nodded and propped her chin against her palm while Naruto increased the volume on his MP3 player and leaned his head on the table as they waited for the time was up.

Fifteen minutes later, Iruka called to the students.

"Alright, time's up! Finished or not, please put your pencil down. Now I will collect your test and please remain on your seat."

The chuunin then collected the sheets from the students and he returned to his desk. He briefly looked at the sheets before he tidied them.

"We'll continue with the ninjutsu test after I finished with correcting your test in about one hour. In that one hour, you all are free to do anything you want but try to keep yourself out of trouble and don't tire yourself out." With that said, Iruka left the classroom. Some of the students also left in search for fresh air while the rest of them stayed on the class.

"How did you do on your test, Naruto-kun?" asked Ino from Naruto's behind.

"It went well. The questions were too easy," answered Naruto.

"You can say that again," said Sakura. "I've read about them in my books."

"Not all of us here is a bookworm or someone with photographic memory like you, Sakura-chan," Ino grumbled. "My head still hurts after thinking so much thinking on the test."

"Don't take it too hard. We should relax before the ninjutsu test," said Naruto admonishingly.

"You're right. There's no need to think about it now," Ino replied. She then remembered that she has something to give to her fellow blonde. It was a food inside a lunch box. "By the way, I made you this for you Naruto-kun. I hope you like it."

"Are you sure you're going to give that to Naruto?" Sakura asked warily in response.

Ino wasn't known with her cooking skill and Sakura knew it. She learned it the hard way when the blonde asked her for a cooking lesson a week ago. When Sakura asked the reason why, Ino said that she wanted to thank Naruto after rescuing her from the Alter Realm and helping her with her training. The pink haired girl agreed and she regretted to make that decision on the end. Her kitchen was totally ruined during Ino's attempt to cook on a simple fried rice and omelet.

The Yamanaka shot her best friend a glare. "What do you mean forehead?"

"You do remember what happened to the kitchen in my house when you asked me to teach how to cook, right?" Sakura shuddered at the memory. It took her hours and a lot of scrubbing to clean the mess Ino caused.

"So what if the process is a little messy? The most important thing is the result," said Ino in self defense.

Sakura glared at Ino. "A little? It was horrible!"

After hearing the banter between the two friends slash rivals, Naruto couldn't help but feeling worried with Ino's cooking. He didn't want to hurt her feelings by refusing to eat the food she made for him, but he couldn't shake the sinking feeling in his stomach if he decided to eat them.

**"You're too kind for your own damn good, brat."**

Blinking, it took Naruto a second before he realized who was talking to him inside his mind.

_'Hey, Kyuubi. What makes you decide to grace the little humble me with your oh so fearful and strong presence?'_

The tailed beast growled but he ignored his jailor's sarcastic greeting. **"I'm bored and your other Personas started to give me headache. Besides, I won't miss any chance to see you suffer and humiliated."**

_'Shut up, you're not helping with anything,'_ Naruto mentally snorted.

"Just you know forehead, I've practiced a lot since then and I'm confident that my cooking is just alright and very edible," said Ino, boasting.

"Yeah right," Sakura sweat dropped not believing any words that her friend just said.

Ino ignored Sakura and turned to Naruto. "Will you eat the food I made for you, Naruto-kun?" To ensure her request to be fulfilled, the blonde girl used the deadliest weapon of all—the puppy dog pout.

Unable to resist the face she made, Naruto only nodded dumbly in response and he received the bento from a happily smiling Ino. However, at the time he received the lunch box the sinking feeling in his stomach grew stronger and stronger.

_'Why do I feel like I've signed my death warrant?'_

**"You should refuse her offer then. Although, that damned cute dog pout of the blondie is damn powerful,"** Kyuubi commented. **"Don't worry brat, I'll fix you up in no time when you were poisoned."**

_'Thank you for the vote confidence, fox.'_

Naruto opened the lunch box and the food Ino cooked for him was a fried rice, or something looked like it. Instead of the usual color of fried rice, it was purple and its smell stung the blonde's nose and everyone else in vicinity.

"What the… hell…did you…cook…?" Sakura asked as she coughing between her words.

"It's Ino Special Fried Rice," Ino answered. It seemed that she was unaffected by the smell of her own cooking.

"That's not fried rice because there is no fried rice is purple!" yelled Sakura. "How it turned to be like that anyway?"

"I've improvised with the recipe I found in my mom's cooking book," replied Ino with a grin.

Naruto stared at the seemingly failed fried rice in his hand for a while before he looked at Sakura and Ino and back to the lunch box in his hand.

**"You know, maybe I can't heal you completely after that,"** Kyuubi piped in.

Gulping, Naruto spooned the fried rice(?) and ate it. The moment the fried rice(?) entered his mouth, Naruto's face paled and his eyes rolled backward before he fell to ground with a dull thud, unconscious.

"Naruto-kun!" both Sakura and Ino yelled.

Sakura then tried to wake Naruto up, but it seemed not working as the blonde Wild Card still passed out and now he was foaming on his mouth.

"What the heck did you put into that creation of yours, pig?" asked Sakura as she cradled Naruto's head in her arms.

"I…Uh…I forgot…" replied Ino sheepishly.

"You should be banned from cooking," said Sakura as she shot a dark glare to her blonde haired best friend.

"Well at least I can always improve myself," Ino replied indignantly. "And there' always next time."

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It took a while before Naruto finally gained his consciousness back. With a groan, he hold his head with his hand and tried to stand up.

"What happened?" Naruto asked to anyone around as he wasn't aware with his surrounding.

**"You passed out after you eat that food the blonde made for you. Some of your friends bring you to here, the infirmary,"** Kyuubi answered in his mind.

Naruto jolted up at that. _'How long I've passed out?'_

**"About an hour,"** the fox replied boredly.

Without wasting more time, Naruto left the infirmary and rushed to his classroom. He couldn't miss the test because he passed out from food! He entered the classroom and saw Iruka was standing in front of the class.

"Good to have you back, Naruto. Sakura told me what happened and I was about to call your name last if you haven't conscious yet," Iruka said with a kind smile.

"Sorry for the problem, sensei," Naruto apologized.

"It's alright. Please return to your seat."

The blonde nodded and walked to his seat next to Sakura. The pink haired girl gave him a worried look but he assured her with a smile. He then turned to Ino who gave him an apologetic look and she mouthed to him that she will try better on the next time. Somehow, that sinking feeling in Naruto's stomach returned when he heard the next time part.

_'You think I should stop her?'_ Naruto asked to Kyuubi, but he received no reply from the Bijuu. _'Stupid fur ball…'_

One by one, the students were called forward to do the ninjutsu test. The objective of the test was to do the three basic jutsu, which were Henge no Jutsu, Kawarimi no Jutsu, and Bunshin no Jutsu. While waiting for his turn, Naruto chatted with Sakura and Ino to make them less nervous about how they would do on their ninjutsu test. Iruka then called for Naruto and the blonde Wild Card stepped to the in front of the class, but not before Sakura and Ino wished him good luck—actually Hinata did too, but she was not so vocal about it thanks to her shyness.

"I hope you're ready for your test despite you fainted earlier due to food poisoning," Iruka joked. "Please do the Henge no Jutsu, Kawarimi no Jutsu, and Bunshin no Jutsu."

Naruto nodded and he performed the needed hand seals for the jutsu and with a puff of smoke he transformed into a perfect replica of Iruka. Seeing the real chuunin nodded, Naruto dispelled his transformation and prepared himself for the Kawarimi no Jutsu. Having the mood for pulling a prank, Naruto replaced himself with Sasuke's chair causing the dark haired boy to fall on his butt. The whole class laughed at the poor Uchiha while the said boy was glaring to no end at Naruto whom grinned at his Uchiha killer glare™. Using the same technique, Naruto moved back to the front of the class where Iruka chuckled and shook his head in amusement.

"Very good Naruto, but maybe you don't have to pull a prank like that," said the Chuunin teacher only to have the whisker marked blonde grinned at him. "Alright, now use Bunshin no Jutsu to create at least two clones to pass your test."

"Can I us any kind of Bunshin no Jutsu, sensei?" asked Naruto.

Iruka arched his eyebrow on that. Actually, it was never specified in the rules what kind of Bunshin used for the test as the usually used was the normal Bunshin no Jutsu. But if the student knew other kind of Bunshin, why not let them use it?

"That's fine. You can use any kind of Bunshin no Jutsu," the scarred Chuunin answered.

Naruto nodded and he formed a hand seal with both of his index and middle fingers pressed together in plus sign. Iruka's eyes widened as he realized what kind of clone technique that his favorite student going to use.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

There was a large plume of smoke and when it cleared, the whole class and Iruka baffled when they saw at least twenty copy of Naruto standing there with grin plastered on their face.

"How was that, sensei?" one of Naruto—presumed to be the real one said.

"T-That's…Kage Bunshin no Jutsu…a B-Ranked technique…" said Iruka in awe, loud enough to be heard by the rest of the class. "How did you know to do that?"

"I actually have a problem with the basic Bunshin no Jutsu. Since I have massive chakra reserve, I always ended overloading my Bunshin no matter how small the chakra I put into them. So my mentor taught me Kage Bunshin to handle the problem. I also know other kind of clone technique like Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu and Tsuchi Bunshin no Jutsu," explained Naruto shocking Iruka and the class furthermore.

The brown haired chuunin closed his gaping mouth. "That was…very good, Naruto. You passed the ninjutsu test."

"Thanks, Iruka-sensei," said the whiskered blonde as he dispelled his clones and took one of the hitai-ate on the teacher's desk.

Naruto walked back to his seat with his classmates staring at him disbelievingly. He then sat on his seat with Ino and Sakura giving the same stare as his other classmates.

"You able to use a B-Ranked technique without being winded and use multiple Personas in battle…Just how strong you really are, Naruto-kun?" asked Ino.

"That's…a secret," Naruto answered with a wink, causing the blonde girl to blush.

"Still, how large is your Chakra reserve Naruto-kun?" asked Sakura curiously.

"To put it bluntly, Hokage-jiichan's chakra is able to cover the whole village. While my chakra I think it can cover an area two or three times larger than this village," said the blonde and Sakura's jaw dropped to the ground.

"That much?" Ino inquired as the pink haired girl was speechless.

"Of course in return, my chakra control sucked all the way to Iwa," muttered the blonde boy under his breath. _'And have almost whole village wanted me six feet under…'_

Two hours later, the ninjutsu test finised with Ino passed her test. Sakura had also passed her test brilliantly. All students of class 302 who participated in the Genin examination passed their test and now they were looking forward for the team placement in one week from now. Outside of the academy, the families of the students were praising their children/brothers/sisters who become Genins. Among them were Setsuna, Yukari, and Inoichi.

"Congratulations on passing the test, you three," said Yukari.

"You should see Naruto-kun, kaa-chan! He was amazing!" exclaimed Sakura happily.

"Sakura-chan is right. He used a B-Rank clone technique and made twenty copies of himself! That was really awesome!" added Ino.

"Really? You know Kage Bunshin no Jutsu?" asked Inoichi as he looked at the younger blonde.

"I was the one who taught him that since he can't use a normal Bunshin due to his massive reserve," answered Setsuna. She then messed with Naruto's hair as she continued. "He must be made the whole class shell shocked."

"Yup!" said Sakura and Ino at the same time.

"That made another reason to have a little celebration. How about we meet up at seven in my house for dinner?" Yukari suggested.

"That's a good plan, Yukari-san," Inoichi replied. "I actually wanted to invite you to have the dinner in my house, but my kitchen was messed up so…" said Inoichi as he glanced at Ino who was humming a nameless tone innocently.

"After she made Naruto-kun passed out after eating her 'Mysterious Food X' earlier today, I think you should ban Ino-chan from using your kitchen ever again, Inoichi-san," stated Sakura as she crossed her arms below her chest.

"Hey!" Ino called out in embarrassment.

The adults laughed at that. They then parted their way after agreeing to meet up at Haruno household later on.

X-0-X-0-X-0-X-0-X

The dinner at the Haruno household was very pleasant. Although Yukari said little celebration, she cooked food for a big party. There was a bit scuffle when Sakura and Ino were fighting to feed Naruto and it ended with Naruto nearly passed out with his mouth overloaded with food. Aside of that, the dinner was filled with chats and laughs as Naruto and Setsuna told them their adventure on the Outside World. After two hours, they bid farewell to each other but not before Ino and Sakura gave Naruto a goodnight kiss on each of his cheeks, leaving the blonde haired Wild Card dazed.

"Things have changed for the better, right?" asked Setsuna as she accompanied Naruto back to his apartment.

"Yeah, never in my wildest dream that I'd have not only one but two girls kissed me. One of them was the girl I've fallen with since I was seven years old nonetheless," answered Naruto with a smile.

Setsuna smiled at her little brother/protégée. She then reminded with something. "By the way, the old coots on the council were also not saying much lately. What happened?"

"That's because Ojii-chan threatened them with execution if they were up to try something funny, like the matter between me and the Uchiha back then. Do you know that they demanded me to be imprisoned for 'hurting' that teme?" said Naruto.

"They've been abusing their power for too long and it's about time the old man stopped them," the black haired Jounin huffed.

They kept on walking until suddenly an ANBU with bear mask appeared in front of Setsuna.

"Setsuna-san, I apologize for disturbing you but we have an emergency situation," said the ANBU. "Mizuki had escaped from the prison and he took the Forbidden Scroll with him."

Setsuna's blue eyes narrowed at the news she heard. Mizuki was once a teacher in the Konoha Shinobi academy until one month ago when Naruto 'accidentally' found out that he was a spy working for Orochimaru. Now that he had escaped from the prison and had the Forbidden Scroll in his possession, it always never meant a good thing.

"Where he had gone?" asked the Jounin.

"He was last seen heading to the forest in the east. Several other ANBUs that went earlier to stop and catch him were found badly injured. From what some of them who were still conscious said that Mizuki somehow used a device to summon demons to his aid. Their statement was the same with what the prison guards said when he broke out from prison," the ANBU reported.

Both Naruto and Setsuna's eyes widened at that. How did Mizuki have his hand into a demon summoning device? The siblings looked at each other and nodded before Setsuna turned into the ANBU.

"I'll get there as soon as possible. Tell the others to keep their distance from Mizuki and stall him, but do not engage into battle with him directly," Setsuna ordered.

"Hai!" the ANBU replied as he left the place via Shunshin no Jutsu.

"You're coming?" asked Setsuna to Naruto.

"Of course I'm coming with you. Besides, I was curious on how Mizuki got his demon summoning device and I know he was also looking for me," said the blonde firmly.

With a silent nod from Setsuna, they then made their way to the east forest hurriedly before the others fell to Mizuki and his demons' victim.

X-0-X-0-X-0-X-0-X

Mizuki watched with glee as the demons he summoned with the help of a COMP he got defeated the ANBUs effortlessly. With the device and the Forbidden Scroll on his back, he surely would be able to defeat that demon brat who exposed his disguise. He would be rotting in jail and would most likely get executed after that. But thanks to that man, now he will have his vengeance!

"Try to stop me, you fools! With these two under my command, you'll never defeat me let alone catch me!" Mizuki taunted the ANBU as he motioned the two demons he summoned.

One of them was a blue skinned demon with a bull's head. He was wearing blue Chinese shirt with white sleeves and shorts and wielded a pole axe. The other demon was red skinned with a horse's head in a green sleeveless Chinese shirt with large golden medal hanging by beads around the neck and gray pants. The horse-headed demon wielded a Chinese longsword.

"Damn, this is bad…" said one of the ANBU as he helped his comrade to stand up.

"You can say that again," another ANBU groaned in pain.

The former instructor smirked evilly as he ordered his demons to attack again. "Now finish those idiots and we leave this stupid place!"

The two demons let out a battle cry and charged at the ANBU with their pole axes raised. The ANBUs prepared themselves to intercept the demons, but suddenly two kunai logged between them and the demons before the tag on their hilts went off and exploded. The explosion was not so big, but enough to catch the demons off guard. Mizuki then looked at the direction where the kunai came and growled as he saw a familiar whisker-marked blond with blue eyes.

"Kyuubi…"

"It's Naruto, you traitorous idiot," Naruto replied half jokingly at his former 'instructure'. He then looked at the demons Mizuki summoned. "Gozuki and Mezuki, the two guards of hell from Chinese mythology…not bad."

"Heh, so you do know them. But that doesn't matter. With these two, I'm invincible!" Mizuki gloated.

"I'm not sure about that, teme," Naruto scowled as he held out his hand and crushed his Persona card, summoning Susano-o. "We'll see about that."

Mizuki smirked confidently as he pushed some buttons on his COMP before he bellowed an order to his demons. "Now then you two, kill that demon brat!"

The demons let out angry snorts before they charged at Naruto and Susano-o. With a mental command from his user, Susano-o leapt forward and intercepted Gozuki and Mezuki's axe. The emerald robed Persona pushed away the demons before Naruto channeled his physical power to his Persona.

"Blade of Fury!"

Susano-o swung his sword fast and three slash marks appeared on Gozuki and Mezuki's body, causing them to howl in pain but not enough to kill the Guards of Hell. Mizuki growled when he saw his demonic minions were struck by the attack. He tried to give them another order via the COMP on his hand, but he forced to dodge a fist from Naruto who had leapt to the branch where he was standing.

"You damn demon brat," Mizuki hissed.

Naruto only stared blankly at the blue haired traitor before the blonde disappeared and reappeared behind Mizuki. The traitor blocked the roundhouse kick with his forearm, but Naruto used his blocked kick as a leverage to hit him with a drop kick. The attack caught him off guard and dropped the COMP. The traitor growled before he let out a furious battle cry as he tried to punch Naruto, tried being the keyword. Naruto batted the fist away with his own forearm before he struck Mizuki on the chest and followed with an uppercut to his chin and another roundhouse to his rib. Mizuki was sent sprawling and hit a tree before he slumped to the ground. Thanks to the forbidden scroll on his back, his spine was broken when he hit the tree. The traitor was struggling to stand up and he was surprised to see his demons were defeated by Naruto's Persona. They disappeared in red light as they roared in pain. Naruto then appeared before him with the COMP he used to summon and control the demons with his Susano-o behind him and Setsuna on his side. The ANBUs were relieving the Forbidden Scroll from Mizuki and restraining the traitor.

"It's over Mizuki, you lose," said Naruto.

"It's not over yet, you demon!" yelled Mizuki ignoring the pain on his back.

"I'm tired with this," Naruto sighed as he tossed the COMP to the air. The ex-Chuunin watched in horror as Susano-o cleaved the device in two with his sword. Both broken halves fell to the ground with dull thuds.

"NO!"

"Now with that done, you can tell us where you get the COMP," ordered the blonde boy as he dismissed Susano-o.

"Why should I tell you?" Mizuki sneered, hoping that his fear would be covered by the act.

"Because I heard that you haven't been interrogated by Ibiki-san or Anko-chan yet since they were rather busy. Now it's your choice to let me interrogate you or Anko-chan can have you as her playmate," said Naruto with a grin.

Mizuki was sweating and before he could say anything, two familiar people Shunshin-ed to the area. They were the two famous interrogators of Konoha, Morino Ibiki and Mitarashi Anko. When he saw those two, the blue haired traitor paled to the degree where he could make a certain Hebi Sannin jealous.

"Hey there, Naru-kun, Setsu-chan," greeted Anko. "What did I miss?"

"The ass kicking part and now I was giving him the choice to be interrogated by me or you can have him as your playmate," answered Naruto with a shrug.

"Did he choose already?" asked Anko. The look on her eyes clearly saying that she wanted to 'play' with Mizuki.

"I choose to be interrogated by this…brat instead of that psycho bitch!" Mizuki yelled suddenly.

Anko pouted when he heard his choice while the still incapacitated traitor was inwardly smirking, confident that Naruto won't be able to fish out any information from him. Sensing the traitor's hidden plot, the blonde smirked inwardly as he decided to play a sudden twist.

"Come to think of it, I'm not in the mood to interrogate you right now," said Naruto causing Anko to squeal delightfully while Mizuki eyes widened so that only the white part of his eyes visible.

"WHAT? But…you tell me to choose!"

"Did anyone never tell you to never trust a fox when you were his enemy?" asked Naruto with a playful grin. "He is yours, Anko-chan. Make sure to extract any information from him because I think he was related to that bastard of your former teacher and I need to know from who he got that COMP."

"Don't worry about that Naru-kun. I will take out any information from that small head of his," replied Anko with her own grin, causing the traitor to nearly piss himself. "…But there's a _small_ price you have to pay for your request…" the purple haired woman added with a strange gleam in her eyes.

"What price?"

Naruto got his answer when Anko suddenly grabbed the collar of his vest and pulled him to her as she kissed him. Full on the lips. The blonde's mind totally go into haywire as the purple haired bombshell gave him the real first kiss of his life. After a minute, Anko pulled away from the dazed boy with a sexy grin on her face.

"That price."

Naruto didn't respond for a while before he finally responded.

"Wow…"

Anko just grinned at him and he turned her heels around. "Alright slackers, take my new playmate to my office at instant. I'm going to have your asses if you were late even for a second, so move it!"

The Tokubetsu Jounin then left followed by the ANBUs who were still baffled at the earlier scene. Ibiki only shook his head and sighed before he left following his comrade.

"Just in one night you have three girls kissed you. Way to go, outoto," commented Setsuna with a teasing grin as she slapped Naruto's back.

"Should I be happy or terrified for this?" asked Naruto.

"Just feel whatever you feel right," said the black haired Jounin as she left the forest.

"Feel whatever I feel right, huh?" muttered Naruto before he also left.

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**A/N:…Sorry if you find this chapter a bit crappy. I have test on last week and I became ill right after the test finished. It's all thanks to the all-nighter I pulled during the test causing my blood pressure to drop drastically. I even barely able to do anything without feeling someone slammed a sledgehammer rapidly to my head….I need my aspirin. Things that should be noted, I brought someone with disastrous cooking skill who had become a trend for P3 and P4, which were represented by Fuuka and Yukiko. Interestingly, those two Arcana's were the Priestess. Since I already made Sakura—also a Priestess actually GOOD at cooking unlike her predecessors, I turned Ino into the cooking menace. What do you think about that? And the COMP Mizuki used in the last part was the COMP from Devil Survivor. The demons will be listed also in compendium since if I recall correctly, the first two Persona game used the basic Megaten demon recruiting system. But instead of recruiting the demons, they gave cards that can be used by Igor in the Velvet Room to call them as Personas. I actually wanted to have Naruto to negotiate with Gozuki and Mezuki, but I rejected that idea since the demon summoned from Mizuki's COMP already submitted to the mysterious figure that gave the COMP to Mizuki. Not to mention my headache not letting me thinking too much for the scene…Maybe when encountering a stray demon Naruto will have a negotiation to recruit that demon into his Persona list. Please leave a review if this story catches your interest. Almost forgot, the poll will be closed when the next chapter is posted, so visit my profile and vote maximum two girls of your choice that should be in Naruto's harem. The top five along with Sakura will be in the harem. See you around and farewell for now.**

Compendium Corner

Name: Gozuki  
Arcana: Hierophant  
Spiritual Level: 35  
Elemental Alignments: Fire (Null), Strike (Resist), Ice (Weak)  
Skills: Kill Rush, Swift Strike, Maragion, Tarukaja, Dodge Ice, Resist Slash  
Compendium Info: The bull headed spirit from Chinese mythology. Along with Mezuki, he guards the Gates of Hell so that any souls cannot escape while waiting for their penance.

Name: Mezuki  
Arcana: Temperance  
Spiritual Level: 35  
Elemental Alignments: Fire (Null), Slash (Resist), Light (Weak)  
Skills: Gale Slash, Mighty Swing, Maragion, Sukukaja, Dodge Light, Resist Strike  
Compendium Info: The horse headed spirit from Chinese mythology. Along with Gozuki, he harshly punishes the souls who tried to escape the afterlife realm.


End file.
